Lloyd Planning Board approves solar array

By Mark Reynolds
Posted 8/31/22

Last week the Lloyd Planning Board unanimously approved a resolution granting site plan approval and a special use permit for a proposed ground mounted solar energy system for Toni Saychek on his 9.6 …

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Lloyd Planning Board approves solar array

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Last week the Lloyd Planning Board unanimously approved a resolution granting site plan approval and a special use permit for a proposed ground mounted solar energy system for Toni Saychek on his 9.6 acre property at 17 Van Orden Road.

Consultant Sheldon Jacobvitch works for the New York State Solar Farm and proposed this project to Saychek. Jacobvitch said the home could not support the weight of the panels and the fixed solar array will be built on the ground and the wires put underground.

“The actual installation of the project actually takes about a day,” he said.

Jacobvitch said the solar array foundation is known as a helical pile.

“They look like a large auger and a powerful machine will screw this six feet into the ground and stud it off and on that they are going to build a pole mount array,” he said. “Our internal house engineers draw up the plans and put everything together, but it is vetted by a public engineering company before we come to you for a permit.”

Guardian Self Storage
The Planning Board approved a resolution for Guardian Self Storage to construct an 11,675 sq/ft climate controlled self storage building at their 50 North Roberts Road location. The board first granted the project a Negative Declaration since it poses no significant adverse environmental impacts and then gave final Approval.

Building Director Dave Barton said an area variance is not needed since the site falls under the new commercial Gateway Zoning District.

Before adjourning, Board member Larry Hammond pointed out that the brush on Vineyard Avenue near the Highbridge residential project needs to be looked at and possibly cleared by the owner Keith Libolt. Barton said he will speak with Libolt about this issue and will ask him to take care of it.

Hammond reminded the board that about three years ago the Town Board passed a resolution dealing with detached apartments, “and we were going to go back and revisit the idea.” He noted that the pandemic curtailed this matter but asked, “are we going to discuss it in the future?”

Chairman Scott McCarthy agreed that it should be discussed again.

“It’s something we did speak about...and it was something that we wanted to correct and make it a little clearer. I think it is something we could work on,” he said.

Member Carl DiLorenzo said, “it was like changing horses in mid-stream. We started this and I don’t remember where we left off and what were going to be the changes.”

Hammond said there were some comparisons made with duplexes, “where you had double the acreage and we were talking about getting it out of the R ¼ acre zones and into the bigger zones and we didn’t want them in the middle of front lawns. They were common sense ideas.”

McCarthy said at the next Planning Board meeting they will return to these two matters that Hammond brought to the board’s attention.