Sides object to solar plan
Developers decry limits; preservationists want ban
The Town Board is moving forward with a solar law that seeks to allow for solar panels to be used — but with protection of views and farmland in mind.
As such, in making the compromise, advocates from both sides have issues with how the law is designed. Solar developers want to be able to erect more than the proposed maximum of 150 acres of solar panels. Meanwhile, farm preservationists want solar installations banned on all usable farmland.
“I know not everyone will be happy with it,” said Town Board member Kelly Jasinski.
The board will hold a public hearing July 13 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall. The draft law is on the town website.
The law limits solar installations to areas where they cannot be seen, but allows farmers to use their land.
“Farmers can make some money but (the
law) will protect our vistas, protect our scenic views,” said Ballston Supervisor Eric Connolly. “We want them to be tucked away in our town.”
It has been a long time coming, with multiple drafts while the town is under a moratorium stopping all solar development. The Town Board sought out comments from the Farmland Preservation and Protection Committee, as well as the planning and zoning boards.
“It’s a better document” for those comments, Connolly said. But the Farmland Preservation and Protection Committee still had questions about how commercial-sized installations would impact the town’s character.
“For commercial solar installations, it is the unanimous recommendation of this committee that whereas the technology is not fully developed, the recyclability of components is in question, and the waste and potential ruin/loss of valuable soils are at risk, commercial solar installations be restricted to commercially and industrially zoned districts and not allowed in the rural/ag District,” the committee decided, according to its published minutes. “The committee does not believe commercial solar installations are consistent with the rural character of our town.”
But the committee offered compromises if the Town Board was unwilling to go that far.
The law could direct farmers to use the “least viable/tillable/pasturable land” for solar installations, committee members said. The committee also proposed farms use contiguous acres only, which might keep some farmers from putting up solar arrays. The law requires a minimum of 60 acres and no more than 150 acres.
“If a landowner owns the necessary number of acres, but it is a combination of non-contiguous parcels, said land does not qualify to participate,” the committee wrote in its proposals.
It’s a complex issue, said Kim Trombly, field advisor for the New York Farm Bureau. “Solar can be important for farmers to be able to continue the family business,” she said.
Farmers receive a set amount of money every year for the solar installation, usually for 15 to 30 years. Typically the payments are tens of thousands of dollars a year.
That can make the difference between a farmer selling off some land to a housing development, or staying in business with all land intact.
“We have very mixed views on the situation,” Trombly said. “Solar can help farms ensure that the rest of the farm stays in production.”
The Ballston proposal would also require removable solar installations, with no concrete used to hold the posts for the solar panels. Instead, the posts are drilled into the ground. The removal costs must be placed in escrow at the start of the project.
That means that, in theory, farmers could cultivate the land after the solar project is removed. Solar developers argue that the untouched land would be richer for the rest period, as well.
But others worry that the solar panels would be replaced with newer solar panels, for a possibly never-ending series of solar projects. Ballston’s law requires the owner to get a new permit after 35 years.
Trombly said the New York State Farm Bureau is aware of those concerns.
“If at all possible, it’d be great for it to not be on farmland,” she said. “We recognize the importance of farmland and the continuation of farmland. We also recognize private owner rights to do what they want with their land.”
Connolly wants to put all funds from solar projects into a dedicated account to purchase development rights so that the most valuable farmland can be protected forever. The solar installations would be taxed through a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement, with the money going into the farmland protection account.
“We will score parcels based on prime soils” and other farmland factors, Connolly said. The town would then reach out to the owners of the topscoring parcels and tell them about the program, which they could choose to enter.
“Without solar, that (fund) won’t be built nearly as quickly,” Connolly said.
He added that he supports limited solar in the town’s Rural District zones.
“There are some who are of the opinion that community solar does not belong in the Rural District and I respect their opinion. I just disagree, personally,” he said.