A plan to build a new solar farm in the Schenectady County Town of Glenville has been paused amid a dispute over land ownership.
Glenville's Snake Hill Road winds behind a residential neighborhood through a quiet, wooded area.
Company U.S. Light Energy, which previously worked with the town to build a solar array in a commercial area near Freeman's Bridge Road, is seeking to build the project on the property.
Project Developer Alex Burnett says the five-megawatt solar farm could provide power to roughly 2,500 homes.
When the project is completed, he says homeowners will be able to subscribe to a program that could see up to a 10 percent reduction in their utility bills.
“I don’t know if it's always the case. It depends on what the subscriber model is but usually it will be a scenario where you subscribe to the program and the array and what happens is the company that that is through will essentially pick up your tab for the utility bill so they pay the utility bill and you pay them,” Burnett said.
On January 22nd, the Glenville Planning and Zoning Commission approved a Solar Farm Overlay District, which designated the area as a potential site for a solar array.
The proposed site plan includes using an abandoned public roadway as an access road to transport materials in and out of the project area.
But Earl Moon, a resident who lives on Snake Hill Road, is disputing the agency’s right to use the former public roadway.
On February 5th, Moon’s lawyer sent a letter of intent to the Planning and Zoning Commission saying Moon owns half of the “proposed access area.”
Moon voiced his concerns at a town board meeting that day:
“I maintain that. I’m the only one that maintained that and I put thousands of dollars in the last 45 years in doing the structure from the road. This outfit comes in. I got the survey maps from 1972 to show you where the pins are. They moved the pins so they have enough to put that driveway for the big trucks to go back there,” Moon said.
The original plan was to access the project area through a street on nearby Bolt Road, but Burnett says that plan was abandoned after terms of a leasing agreement between the development agency and another resident could not be reached.
As Moon prepares to file a lawsuit, Burnett says the development agency has the right to use the road.
“We trust our engineering and what that shows is that the property we are proposing to use and all things that go into it. We are in our rights to utilize but we are working with title companies with our counsel, with the neighbors’ counsel to discuss and come to a solution,” Burnett said.
He adds the agency wants to be “a good neighbor."
“We don’t want to step on anyone’s toes if we’re in the wrong,” Burnett said.
Amid the threat of legal action, the Planning and Zoning Commission moved to delay taking action on approving any further plans for the solar array.
Chair Michael Carr spoke about the issue at Monday's commission meeting.
“And we certainly don’t want to approve anything. This isn’t the town’s problem this is between you and the adjacent property owner and the attorneys to hash out the legal implications or come to an agreement or whatever as to how you’re going to access the site. It’s got nothing to do with us,” Carr said.
Glenville Planning Director Anthony Tozzi says it would be unwise for the Planning and Zoning Commission to take further action until the dispute is settled.
“It would be not good practice if the planning and zoning commission took action on a site plan that includes a piece of property that maybe the applicant doesn’t own. So, the Planning and Zoning Commission is looking for both property owners to clarify who owns what,” Tozzi said.
For now, Tozzi says the commission is waiting for the issue to be resolved, but hopes all parties can come to an agreement before the commission’s March 17th filing deadline.
