Shawangunk Planning Board reviews Route 52 solar project

By Ted Remsnyder
Posted 8/14/19

In April 2018, the Shawangunk Town Board passed a local law to regulate large-scale solar farms in the town, and the first proposed solar project that would make use of the bill is now under …

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Shawangunk Planning Board reviews Route 52 solar project

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In April 2018, the Shawangunk Town Board passed a local law to regulate large-scale solar farms in the town, and the first proposed solar project that would make use of the bill is now under consideration by the Shawangunk Planning Board. The proposed solar farm would be situated on 117 acres of property owned by E & L Farms LLC at 3014 State Route 52, although the solar farm would take up only 9.5 acres of that parcel.

Local Law No. 1 of 2018 - Solar Energy Systems, which the town board passed unanimously last spring, limited solar farms in the municipality to a maximum of 20 acres, with a cap of 50 percent of a given plot of land that would be permitted to be covered in solar panels.

The proposed project on Route 52 has been submitted by NY Solar 1000 LLC, and the applicants erected a simulation of the proposed solar farm in the field recently so the board could examine the impact the project would have on the community. During the planning board’s meeting on Aug. 6, Board Member Todd Widmark noted that from Route 52 the mock panels were barely visible from the road.

The project would feature fixed panels on the solar farm, as opposed to rotating units. Electricity from the farm would be sold to New York State Electric and Gas Corporation (NYSEG), with a potential opportunity for town residents to purchase solar cheaper power through the farm through a community solar initiative, but the contours of that potential program have yet to be finalized.

As the project moves step-by-step through the application process, the Ulster County Planning Board will weigh in next with its guidance on the proposal. “After the recommendation comes back from the county we have to address anything they say,” Planning Board Chair Mark Watkins said. “Then once that’s done, we’re going to look at the visual assessment next month and then we’ll get a preliminary approval and then they have to meet all of the conditions to get the final approval.”

During the public hearing for the project during Tuesday’s meeting, resident Roger Rascoe said that he drives down New Prospect Road every day past the site of the proposed farm, and that he thinks the project would blend in with its surroundings. “My personal opinion is that the visual impact of this will be absolutely minimal and after it’s built people aren’t even going to know it’s there,” he said.

Longtime member retires
At the start of last week’s meeting, Watkins paid tribute to departing Vice Chair Kristine Pedersen, who served the board for over three decades, but is now planning to move out of town. Pedersen joined the board in June 1987, and in April 1988 became chair of the council, serving in that position for 27 years until Watkins was appointed chair in 2015. “She’s always expressed her pride in the Town of Shawangunk and has always been willing to volunteer to keep the beautiful place we have,” Watkins said during the meeting.

A longtime teacher with the Wallkill school district, Pedersen still serves as a substitute teacher with the district after retiring from full-time duty in 2012. “I want to thank everybody for continuing to work even when I’m not here,” she told the board during Tuesday’s meeting.

Watkins recalled that when he was assuming the chair role with the planning board, Pedersen showed him the ropes of the council during many early-morning sessions at the Pine Bush Diner. “When I first got on the board, Mrs. Pedersen took time out and met with me and had breakfast with me and took me to the sites and showed me what to do,” he said. “She’s been an asset to the board and the knowledge that she has of every application for almost 30 years, she has all of that information in her head. She’s still available to us, but she just needs to go someplace else, that’s all. She’s been a big asset to the board all of these years.”

The board presented Pedersen with a vase of flowers at the start of the meeting, and Watkins listed her long line of accomplishments during her time with the planning board. “She oversaw the planning in the ‘80s and ‘90s in the residential boom years and has provided excellent leadership to the planning board to make sure its decisions are appropriate and that new residential neighborhoods with be attractive and will be an asset for the town,” Watkins noted. With Pedersen vacating her seat on the council, the town board will be tasked with choosing her replacement.