By EJ Conzola II
NYVT Media
WHITEHALL – The town’s solar task force, which was created in the wake of a public outcry after a developer unveiled plans to turn the former Valley View Golf Course into two five-megawatt solar farms, worked for roughly seven months on the proposed upgrades to the town’s existing regulations governing commercial solar development. The Town Board implemented a moratorium on such development while the task force researched the issue, including laws enacted in other communities facing similar proposals.
That moratorium will expire at the end of the year, although the board also authorized potential extensions that would block solar farm development for as long as another year.
Despite the moratorium, another solar firm recently expressed interest in a property on County Route 21 near the intersection with Baker Road, Supervisor John Rozell noted during the Town Board’s Aug. 21 meeting.
The task force, which is made up of volunteers from the community, spent the time since the moratorium was adopted delving into all aspects of solar energy, including examining state laws and regulations of multiple communities, said Tammy Rocque, one of the driving forces behind the organization. The result of their efforts is a 20-page document that represents “our best rough draft” of a new set of regulations for Whitehall, said Gregg Chappell, a member of the town Planning Board who also serves on the task force.
“We just thought it was important to get this into your hands,” Chappell told Town Board members.
Rozell said board members had only recently received the recommendations and would want to review them in detail before even considering any action on the proposal.
“Hopefully, we can be done by December,” Rozell said.
The Town Board will now study the recommended revised law and decide what – if any – changes they would like to see. Rocque said members of the task force, if asked, will meet with board members to answer any questions and explain the rationale behind the recommendations.
“It’s just clay; you can mold it any way you want,” Chappell said.
The proposed regulations draw heavily on a template created by the state, Chappell said. However, many of the state recommendations assume communities grappling with solar development have zoning, which the Town of Whitehall does not, he said.
Because of that, the proposed local law would give the town Planning Board authority that would otherwise be delineated in zoning laws, he said.
The proposed law addresses many of the major concerns raised during the early debate over the Valley View plans.
Among its provisions are requirements that developers craft a plan to decommission any solar farm once it reaches the end of its usable life and that they post bonds sufficient to cover the cost of taking the facility down if they fail to do so.
The proposed law also institutes application fees for commercial solar developers – $10,000 for Tier 3 projects, which are capable of producing 5 megawatts of energy and can be no larger than 40 acres, and $12,000 for Tier 4 projects, which are anything larger than a Tier 3 project.
Tier 1 and Tier 2 projects, which are primarily residential solar installations, either roof-mounted or ground-mounted, carry no application fee.
The proposed law also imposes screening requirements for all but roof-mounted solar projects to mitigate the effects the projects would have on the viewshed. It also requires that all solar panels used in any of the tiers be coated to essentially eliminate reflected glare.
