Construction approved for Montrose Turnpike Solar Array

The Town of Owego Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has approved a request for a special use permit by SunEast Valley Solar to construct a 20 MegaWatt solar facility at 2593 Montrose Turnpike in Owego, which became effective immediately following last Thursday’s meeting. 

The board approved a resolution granting the special use permit to SunEast Solar after the board had, what the resolution said, “carefully considered all the information presented and received at the public hearing on behalf of the applicant, and the public with respect to [the application].” 

The decision was unanimous, with board members Janet Brown, David Kresge, Jack Legg, Dan Myers, and Chairman Gary Phelps all voting “yes” on the resolution granting approval of the permit.

Among the reasons the board gave for the approval of the permit, the resolution stated the project “amounts to a useful repurposing of land within the [agricultural] district, in as much as the project area has not been actively farmed in more than twenty years, and has deteriorated within that time.” 

The board had concluded that “the project is of such character, intensity, size, and location that it would be in harmony with the orderly development with the agricultural district in which the project would be located.” And that it would “not have significant adverse impact on the environment.” 

Proximity to a NYSEG electrical substation, a suitable decommissioning plan for the end of the project, and a lack of “substantive evidence” that the project would decrease neighboring property values were also among the reasons the board gave for their decision. The board approved the project with the stipulation that SunEast would establish suitable landscaping to obscure the view of the array from the road and neighboring properties for the life of the project. It also stipulated that SunEast maintain emergency vehicle access routes into and throughout the project area. 

The Tioga County Planning Board had previously reviewed the application, and recommended disapproval of the project due to a potential “significant loss of productive farmland.” 

The Town of Owego Planning board subsequently considered the proposal and recommended approval with some contingencies. The most notable contingency being that “landscaping plants be placed in key locations to obscure the view” of the Solar Array from the road and from neighboring properties such as Maple Ridge Ranch. Other contingencies focused on consideration of environmental impact. 

Following the recommendation by the Owego Planning Board the proposal moved to the ZBA, where the public was able to make comments and ask questions to SunEast Solar and to the board members. Many citizens of Owego showed up to voice their concerns over the project, and others to show their support of it. The ZBA stated that they respectfully disagreed with the Tioga County Planning Board’s recommendation, at that time, of disapproval, due to the unsuitable nature of the farmland that the project will be built on.

There was no public discussion at Thursday’s meeting. At previous meetings citizens had debated the solar array construction, with opponents of the construction citing concerns over issues such as a potential decrease in property values near the solar array, the “eyesore” that would be created by the solar array, and added danger along the road during construction. 

Proponents of the construction cited a desire to keep the property where the array would be built on the tax rolls, and some advocated for the need for more renewable energy across the country. Last Thursday’s meetings and previous meetings were hosted over Zoom.