Councilman: Solar farm proposal is ‘problematic’
HAMILTON » A controversial solar farm application before the Hamilton Township Zoning Board of Adjustment is a troubling and “problematic development,” Council President Rick Tighe said in public commentary.
“I am open to the township looking at that, preserving that as open space,” Tighe said of the forested ecosystem off Sweetbriar Avenue. “There is a lot of wetland there, and it’s a problematic property.”
At Tuesday’s Hamilton Council meeting, township resident Janice Glonek asked members of Hamilton Council whether the township is open to buying the land, saying she doesn’t want “ugly solar panels” to be installed on the outskirts of her Cornell Heights neighborhood.
“I share your concern about potential flooding problems that could be caused if we allow a developer to clear-cut that property,” Tighe said in response to Glonek’s question. “We are talking about a neighboring town that is going to benefit from this project. There is no benefit that accrues to Hamilton Township from that.”
Synnergy LLC of New Jersey wants to uproot hundreds of trees and install thousands of ground-mounted solar panels near the floodprone Cornell Heights neighborhood. The project, if approved, would provide renewable electricity to the Ewing-Lawrence Sewerage Authority, also known as ELSA, a public entity based in nearby Lawrence Township.
Synnergy’s development plan calls for 820 trees to be removed to accommodate the large-scale solar panel installation, according to company officer Steven Durst, who previously said the plan poses no flooding hazards.
“The bottom line is we have spent over two years gaining New Jersey DEP approvals, which concluded we will not contribute any additional stormwater runoff,” he told The Trentonian last year, referring to the state Department of Environmental Protection. “We have permits to that effect.”
Trees soak up the rain and help reduce runoff, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That fact is one of the biggest reasons cited by residents of Cornell Heights on why they oppose the proposed solar farm, saying they believe it will make the neighborhood more susceptible to flooding.
Synnergy previously presented its solar farm application to the Hamilton
Township Planning Board, and the planning board subsequently transferred the application to the zoning board as the venue of proper jurisdiction.
The planning board is permitted to review certain applications, but only the zoning board may grant a use variance permitting a developer to chop down hundreds of trees to install thousands of solar panels in a Stream Buffer Conservation Zone.
Synnergy LLC is seeking special permission to build a solar panel facility within a Stream Buffer Conservation Zone in Hamilton Township. The proposed solar farm would provide electrical power to the EwingLawrence Sewerage Authority, which Synnergy says is an “inherently beneficial use” because state law establishes that solar, wind or photovoltaic energy facilities represent a land use that “fundamentally serves the public good and promotes the general welfare.”
Synnergy has a contract to purchase nearly 40 acres of undeveloped land from Philip J. Vecere, the current landowner of the wooded property near the Cornell Heights and Whitehead Manor neighborhoods. The property is located between the Northeast Corridor rail tracks and Sweetbriar Avenue, but Synnergy only wants to develop one-third or 12.5 acres of the land for solar farm use.
“It’s the Lawrence sewer authority that would be the beneficiary of the energy generated,” Tighe said Tuesday, “so basically our neighboring town wants to clearcut forests on Sweetbriar, which is actually going to cause flooding for two different neighborhoods in Hamilton. So it is a problematic development.”
Synnergy is scheduled to present its solar panel application to the zoning board next week. The virtual hearing will be conducted via Zoom and teleconference beginning 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 28.
Synnergy has revised its proposal over the last three years, most recently offering to install 10,950 groundmounted solar panels on 12.5 acres of virgin land.