By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
On Feb. 4, the Town of Cazenovia Planning Board approved the site plan submitted by David Lucas for a 5-megawatt commercial solar installation at 2405 Barrett Road, New Woodstock.
TJA Clean Energy — a Massachusetts-based commercial and community solar development company with an office in Syracuse — will lead the project.
Established in 2012, the company offers comprehensive engineering, procurement and construction services for alternative energy initiatives.
“We uncover opportunities for development and provide start to finish architecture of commercial solar systems,” the company’s website says.
According to the approved site plan, TJA Clean Energy will lease 25 acres of a roughly 76-acre site owned by Lucas.
The installation, which will cover 15.5 acres, will consist of roughly 18,250 solar panels.
“[The panels will be] ground mounted on 234 racks on east and west sides interconnected primarily by underground electric service, poles [and] miscellaneous utility improvements,” explained planning board member Anne Ferguson.
The racks and panels measure eight feet high, seven feet wide and 270 feet long.
The facility will by surrounded by an eight-foot security fence.
Functioning as a community solar farm, the installation will allow homeowners and businesses to purchase subscriptions. In return, they will receive a share of the solar facility’s energy supply. Buying into the farm will require no installation by the purchaser, no upfront costs, and no maintenance. Subscribers will receive solar credits that are automatically applied to their utility bills.
According to Ferguson, the project will offer solar use for people who rent, live in multi-tenant buildings, or are unable to have solar panels on their roofs.
The installation will tie into National Grid and generate 9,400 MWh per year — enough energy for 770 residential homes.
The project is predicted to provide 6,703 metric tons of greenhouse gas savings per year.
Ferguson said the project would produce minimal noise, minimal traffic and no light pollution.
Following a roughly six-month construction period, the farm would be unstaffed.
To help mitigate the impact of the project on the views from all sides of the farm, TJA Clean Energy will plant hundreds of indigenous trees and shrubs. The company also plans to plant pollinator-friendly plants around the panel installations.
In addition to approving the site plan, the planning board also voted to transfer the file to the Town of Cazenovia Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). A public hearing on the proposed project will be held at the ZBA’s March 22 regular meeting.
Proposed Rt 20 apartment units
Later in the meeting, the board considered an application from One Remington, LLC for the residential conversion of the existing office building at 1 Remington Drive, Cazenovia.
Located off Route 20, the property is the former home of GHD engineering firm.
James Knittel, AIA, principal at in-ARCHITECTS, and Anthony Di Peso, a member of the development team, provided the board with an overview of the applicant’s proposal.
The project would involve the conversion of the building for use as approximately 25-30 one- and two- bedroom apartment units located on two stories.
According to Di Peso, very minor modifications would be made to the site, and the existing footprint and exterior of the building would remain intact.
“It will be a conversion to residential units; anything additional to the building will just be amenities,” added Knittel. “Storage units, possible fitness [center], community room [would all] be within the building, but not open to the public, just for the residents . . . The only site improvements would be the addition of the sidewalk area along the back of the building . . . and we are looking at a couple additional parking spots up at the high point in front of the building, just to provide some additional handicap parking spots.”
Knittel said the developer also plans to provide some “TLC” to the already well-landscaped site.
According to Knittel, one of the highlights of the project is its large interior courtyard, which would be accessible to most of the ground floor units.
Zoning and Codes Enforcement Officer Roger Cook noted that the building has three main entrances — one on the east side of the parking lot, one on the west side of the building, and one facing Route 20.
“From what I’ve seen, I think they are indicating that they are going to use those entrances to access the corridors to go to the apartments,” Cook said. “I would assume [they’ll just be] upgrading the doors to whatever it is they need for that to function.”
Ferguson requested that the applicant return with additional information regarding the targeted demographic, exterior lighting plans, elevations, traffic impact, etc.
Following the discussion, the board voted to continue the file to the next monthly meeting.
The planning board typically meets on the first Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m.
