Republican View: A plea regarding solar complexes

As a county legislator, I’ve had the opportunity to help my constituents, whether working to make a road safer with new signage or a crosswalk, making new healthcare coverage available for groups of people, or being an advocate with my side of the aisle for a third county judge to move cases more quickly through the system so attorneys, judges, police and the accused are not overwhelmed.

But sometimes, there’s an issue where you need to step back and be a citizen first and appeal to those whose job it is to protect your rights as a citizen and not a legislator. I find myself at that point now.

The state is looking to push forward with massive solar complexes in upstate New York, dwarfing any solar arrays now in the state. At least three companies are considering building these industrial-scale solar arrays in Lansing and Groton.

The arrays will cover between 1,000 and 2,000 acres of what’s now prime farmland, land that in the past couple of weeks was harvested of corn that’s going to feed cows on local farms. For an idea of scale, that’s between two and four times the Ithaca Tompkins International Airport.

My home was built in 1860, and the barn that we restored two years ago, in 1806. It’s one of the original farmhouses and is still surrounded by thousands of acres of farmland, all of which are growing food.

There will be some who say my plea is NIMBYism or “Not In My Backyard,” to which I respond, yes, why is that a problem? It’s why we elect local residents to town and planning boards, to the county, state and federal legislatures, so these representatives are us, not some faceless government or company hundreds or thousands of miles away.

I don’t want 1,000 acres of solar panels built 100 feet from my home. This would be the equivalent of a 43-million-square-foot, one-story-high building being built closer than I can throw a football. I moved to the country to be in the country, but I can’t imagine those living in Fall Creek or in Ellis Hollow would support a factory that size going in their neighborhoods either.

It’s one thing to put an array this size at the powerplant, an industrial-zoned site where it would also go over land in places unusable for anything else. It’s another to cover over prime farmland. Some will argue this protects the farmland. How? It will cover it up for my and maybe my children’s lifetimes. Under that thinking, every building protects farmland.

I understand the state has taken control of the siting of these projects away from local planning boards through articles 10 and 23 because many of the projects found local resistance overwhelming; the state wants to lower that hurdle.
However, the state says in its draft rules it will abide by reasonable local zoning and building laws. What is reasonable will be a sticking point, but we won’t get to that negotiation if our towns do not adopt rules for these very large industrial solar arrays.

Now for my plea: Lansing’s Planning Board has done a great job with residential and community solar, but arrays of this size are new and need regulation specifically for them. If I had my wish, I’d suggest not allowing solar arrays over 150 acres on agricultural land.

This land is being farmed and feeding us. I also understand that farmers need added income to keep their farms running, which is why arrays would still be allowed with a limit. That limit could be higher if planning boards see fit.
Since that may not fly with planning boards, I’d suggest putting in a required setback for industrial solar of 2,000 feet from existing homes and roads. We require setbacks for other uses like cell towers and powerlines.

We should require that 20% of the land be used for pollinators, similar to Lansing’s existing solar law. Water runoff and pest control will both be issues. I’m hoping the towns will require vegetation in the buffer zones, and I’d like to see berms built to hide these structures.

There will be the argument that the landowner should be allowed to do what they want on their land. That’s true within reason, but that’s why we have zoning. Agricultural land is less regulated, but the check on that is the planning board with its site review.

The problem is the state has taken that power away, so the only option is for towns to frontload regulations. This will be happening in upstate New York, with hearings starting in November.

With COVID-19 putting meetings online, it’s even harder to have your voice heard, and corporate/state deals are more likely to fly under the radar. The state may not be putting up parking lots, but it seems determined to pave paradise.

If you’d like to speak out against that or offer suggestions, you can sign up at ores.ny.gov/events and you can see the draft state regulations at ores.ny.gov/regulations.