BY PAUL MITCHELL
North Country This Week
CANTON – A representative for EDF Renewables wanted members of the town board to know the solar developers are not pleased with the proposed revisions to the town code dealing with solar projects and the way the proposed changes have been handled.
At Tuesday night’s (Oct. 10) public hearing, Jonathan Geldard , Grid Scale Power- NYEDF Renewables, spoke about what the revised code would mean for the 240-megawatt Rich Road Solar Energy Center.
“It has come to our attention that a recent zoning change proposal may significantly impact our project, and we felt it imperative to express our concerns to both town officials and local residents who stand to significantly benefit from the project,” he stated.
One code revision would rezone several parcels within the solar center boundaries to Residential-Agricultural and prohibit large-scale solar energy system in that zone.
“To our dismay, we were never notified of these zoning changes, and this lack of communication has raised serious concerns about the potential consequences for our project. We believe in open dialogue and collaboration with every community where we engage in development,” said Geldard. “We have had several workshop conversations with members of the town board and town planning board to address specific questions and concerns through most of 2022 in preparation of the project’s 94-c application to the State.”
Geldard said EDF has engaged in open discussions with town officials and has addressed questions and concerns from community members.
“We value the communities where we choose to build projects, and we are committed to working together to make this project as beneficial as possible for all those impacted.That is why it is so disheartening to learn that these changes to the zoning laws have been in discussion for the last four years all the while we were reviewing zoning elements of this project with town officials, without notification…
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