The Town of Pompey Planning Board met for their regular monthly meeting on Monday, July 17, 2023. On the agenda was the initial site plan review for Colorado-based Pivot Energy’s new proposed solar array installation on Sweet Road. Last fall, Pivot failed to receive the votes needed from the Town Board in order to move their previous project forward.
Pivot Energy representative Gordon Woodcock reported that the company took the feedback received last year from the Town Planning Board, Environmental Conservation Committee, and the Town Board — as well as from the public — and used that as the basis for their new plan and application. Among the concerns expressed previously were issues of disruption to the neighbors, impact on the view shed, reduction in available agricultural land, and questions about the safety of solar arrays in general.
In response to those and other concerns, Pivot presented a new plan that shifts the project slightly to the west in an effort to minimize the footprint on agricultural land and impact on neighbors. This shift will necessitate removal of trees along the back line of the array. The landowner has also agreed to implement a deed restriction that would set aside land equal to the size of the array (at a different location) in an agricultural easement for the duration of the solar lease.
Pivot went on to show that they have added additional screening to help with view shed concerns, and they also touched on the establishment of a pollinator habitat and plans to maintain the solar fields utilizing a rotational sheep grazing program.
The new plan proposes a 4.25 megawatt array that will span two fields (approximately 22 fenced acres) separated by tree lines with two access points, whereas the previous plan was located on one large field and had only one access point.
Planning Board Chair Sue Smith expressed “disappointment” that the view shed issue does not appear to be rectified with the new plan. She paraphrased part of the Town of Pompey Master Plan which states that technology may not infringe on agricultural interests, residential interests, or the view shed. Smith also stated that New York Ag and Markets is very specific with their siting goals in that projects such as solar arrays should avoid prime agricultural soil. Woodcock reiterated that, upon expiration of the solar lease, the land would be returned back to its original agricultural use.* He also pointed out that moving the array to the west and north creates a greater buffer for the neighboring property, noting that the addition of panels to the northern field will place the array adjacent to the neighbor’s commercial operations and not their home.
In response to direct questions from Board members, Pivot stated that they would provide the Board with copies of all standards of compliance that they are required by law to adhere to, along with confirming that they perform quarterly service inspections, they source their panels mainly from Asian nations (with the exception of China), and that they are open to discussing a community solar program for town residents that would offer a 10% discount on the energy supply portion of their bills (it would not reduce energy delivery costs). The plan would prioritize lower income households first and then be offered to others as available.
Town of Pompey Tier 3 Solar Application Process
The Board discussed, for the benefit of Town residents, the application process for Tier 3 Solar, as defined by Town law.
First, the applicant asks to be placed on the Town Planning Board meeting agenda to publicly present their initial site plan.
After the initial presentation, the Planning Board then takes the necessary time to review all the documentation provided by the applicant and submits either their approval or rejection with comments to the Town Board. The Town Board has the autonomy to either accept or reject the Planning Board’s recommendation. If the Town Board concurs with a negative decision from the Planning Board, the application process ends.
If the Town Board chooses to move forward with the process, the applicant then formally presents their initial site plan at a public Town Board meeting. The Town Board, after further review of the initial plan, decides whether or not they want to support the creation of an overlay district to allow the project to move forward.
If the Town Board approves the initial site plan, the process then moves to a public hearing where Town residents present their questions and comments about the project. The applicant then revises their plan, if they so choose, based on the feedback they received from the public and Town, and presents a full, detailed site plan to the Planning Board for final review. Then it’s back to the Town Board for a final vote.
*Post-meeting Notes
It’s important to note that, in a side conversation directly subsequent to the Planning Board meeting, Mr. Woodcock stated that he believes that Pivot’s lease agreement with the landowner is for 49 years. Thus, although the contract with the state is for an initial 25 years, Pivot Energy has the option to renew and effectively double the length of their lease agreement with the landowner. It would behoove the Town to carefully consider what requirements they may wish to include in any agreement regarding what happens at the end of the 25-year contract with the state. Specifically, should the Town stipulate that the applicant must re-apply to the Town after the 25-year contract with the state expires? Or should the Town Board simply insist that the array be dismantled and removed completely after the 25-year deadline? This strategy may help to mitigate any unexpected or unintended consequences of a 49-year lease of the land.
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By Nancy Furdock for DiscoverPompey.com
