Town of Hartwick Sets Public Hearing for Solar Moratorium

By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
HARTWICK

After a contentious start to its new term of office, the Town of Hartwick board has found an issue to unify around: opposing a proposed solar farm.

At its regular meeting on Monday, March 9, town board members unanimously voted to set a March 20, 6:30 p.m. public hearing for a proposed six month solar moratorium, pending timely review by the Otsego County Planning Department and publication of notices in “The Daily Star.” The moratorium proposal comes in response to solar company SolAmerica seeking to build a 12.8-acre solar farm near the intersection of Greenough Road and Dobbs Hill Road.

Residents have been speaking out against the project since news of the company’s inquiries broke last month, including three public commenters at the Monday meeting. Opponents have cited noise, visual impact, potential environmental impacts and proximity to residential properties.

SolAmerica has yet to file an official application for the project, which they estimated would create 2 MW of power from 5,568 solar panels. The company has said it would be responsible for construction, active use and deactivation, which would include returning what is now a field to its natural state at the end of use of the solar farm.

The moratorium, draft-ed by town attorney Hancock Estabrook LLP, would prohibit many kinds of “solar energy systems” from being built in the town during a six-month period, including both the kind SolAmerica is proposing and “Roof-Mounted Solar Energy Systems” and “Building-Integrated Solar Energy Systems.” The moratorium would bar the town from hearing any solar proposal during the six-month period after passage.

According to the legislation, “Any person, firm or corporation that shall install, place, construct, enlarge or erect any Solar Energy System or Solar Energy Equipment without the required approval of the Town during the effective period,” would be subject to “a fine not exceeding three hundred fifty dollars or imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months.”

Councilmember Bryan LoRusso, who has been a vocal advocate for the moratorium including frequent e-mails to Town Supervisor Cody Moore, told AllOtsego the urgency is because “we have to do it before someone presents a plan, because then you could be sued for sour grapes.” He and other board members said the time would allow development of a more comprehensive solar law for the town, which does not have its own zoning code.

LoRusso also urged quick action to avoid what he said could be intervention from the Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission, a state body whose mission is to “consolidate the environmental review and permitting of major renewable energy facilities” of 25 MW or larger, according to its site.

“They are the Gestapo of solar panels,” LoRusso said, emphasizing that the Town of Hartwick needs to act on this and other matters “or the state will.”

Local discourse on the solar project has been overwhelmingly negative, Moore telling AllOtsego that “every person that I’ve heard from is 100 percent against it for the location. They’re not against solar. They’re against the location of this particular project.”

However, the proposed moratorium has drawn criticism from the executive director of Otsego 2000, an environmental nonprofit.

“We encourage all towns to adopt zoning laws that allow for the town to develop according to the goals laid out in their comprehensive plans,” Ellen Pope said in a statement to AllOtsego. “At the same time, we recognize that small scale and community scale solar have an important role to play in reducing dependence on fossil fuels, as long as their siting preserves agricultural land. The town’s draft moratorium seems overly broad given it includes roof-mounted/ground-mounted solar panels for personal or farm use, which have little to no impacts on agricultural lands.”

Opposition to the potential solar project has brought together a board that has been at odds this term, starting out with a Sheriff’s Office visit to mediate disputes at its first meeting of the year in January.

“It is apparent to me that this is a situation which will help the town come together over an issue that lingers, as do its positive or negative consequences on the local economy, residents, and animals,” Councilmember Tom Murphy wrote in an e-mail to other board members before the meeting.

SolAmerica did not respond to requests for comment by press time.