Voters in Washington approved a six-month moratorium on solar installations at a special town meeting on Monday.

The temporary ban came less than a week after George Stone, a Clarksville, Md., developer, filed documents with the town proposing to install 3,500 solar panels on approximately seven acres along Old Union Road between the Town Office and post office. It could be Maine’s second-biggest solar installation.

Selectmen urged the moratorium after hearing of the proposal with Selectman Duane Vigue saying that Washington has “absolutely no standards” for solar installations and needs time to draft them to guard against overdevelopment. On Monday, residents passed the 180-day moratorium in a 64-29 vote, said Selectman Berkley Linscott.

Stone, who also owns Medomak Family Camp along Washington Pond and spoke at the meeting, said that the moratorium would “set the development back,” but he’s still interested in developing the parcel to sell electricity to public buildings, Washington businesses and to the power grid. He said “there are better places” than Maine to do solar projects, but it’s not return on investment that he’s looking for.

“Our purpose was to try and bring benefit to the community that we have been a part of for the last 20 years,” Stone said.

Documents filed with the town on March 31 said the plan calls for 3,504 panels, which would each measure 39.5 inches by 63 inches, but Stone said that could change. Under this plan, they would be arranged in 12 rows on the property and set 25 feet back from Old Union Road.

Solar power is uncommon, but growing in Maine. In 2013, it comprised about three-tenths of 1 percent of the state’s renewable energy portfolio, according to data from the American Council On Renewable Energy and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.

But last year, Bowdoin College in Brunswick finished a project that installed 4,000 panels at four locations, saying it would offset 8 percent of the college’s electricity needs. That was seven times bigger than any past solar project in Maine, likely making Stone’s project the second-biggest. Stone is an experienced developer who has overseen solar projects in Vermont, Massachusetts and California.

Now, Washington Code Enforcement Officer Robert Temple said the town is reviewing solar power ordinances in other states and that selectmen will decide at a Wednesday meeting if the Planning Board or another committee will head up the process of drafting the changes, which must have a public hearing before gaining approval from residents.

“We’re looking at what’s worked in other areas and seeing what fits,” Temple said.

Michael Shepherd — 370-7652

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Twitter: @mikeshepherdme