Solar Farm Proposed for Jefferson Valley, New York, & Emphasizes Storm Water Improvements
Representatives from EnterSolar and Bergmann Associates presented an initial proposal for a leased solar farm project at the Old Hill Farm in Jefferson Valley, New York.
This was presented during the Planning Board’s work session meeting on June 28, reported Yorktown News.
The proposed project would take up 15.5 of the 19.4 acres on the Old Hill Farm property and would be a 3.75-megawatt ground-mounted field of solar panels, reported Yorktown News. The panels would cover 12 acres of the property and be surrounded by a seven-foot-high chain link fence.
Access to the site would be provided by a 20-foot-wide, limited-use gravel driveway and the fencing around the panels would be at least 60 feet from the edge of East Main Street, leaving the current vegetation on the property as a buffer. The site also sits about 40 feet above the commercial buildings to its west due to an elevation change, so the farm is shielded visually, reported Yorktown News.
Residential buildings to the north of the site would be the most impacted by the project visually. Applicants plan on maintaining the existing vegetation and planting more pollinators between the homes and the farm, reported Yorktown News.
Applicants have also discussed options to deal with storm water runoff, such as a vegetated swale that will run along the driveway from the south to the north, since the farm slopes downward to the north and the east, reported Yorktown News. One or two detention ponds may be created to control the storm water as well.
“We think that this will have a very minimal impact on the surrounding environment,” said Hannah Stephanz, business development manager at EnterSolar, reported Yorktown News. “We plan on using pollinator-friendly seed and we will have a responsible end-of-life decommissioning plan since all of our materials and equipment can be recycled or disposed of safely at the end of the project’s life.”
The solar farm would reduce Yorktown’s carbon usage as well as saving community members money on their monthly Con Edison bills, reported Yorktown News.
The solar project’s next steps are to submit a full application for additional discussion points and site plan revisions and then return to the planning board for a plan review, according to Yorktown News.
