TOWN OF MANLIUS – Dozens of Manlius residents came out last Wednesday to voice their opinions on the town’s proposed moratorium on commercial solar arrays.
In a public hearing that lasted more than three hours, the crowd appeared to break down into three camps: those that oppose the moratorium and want climate action immediately; those that support climate action but agree the moratorium will allow the town to craft a more effective solar policy; and those that oppose the development of commercial solar in Manlius, specifically at a proposed site on Salt Springs Road.
If the law is passed, it would temporarily bring to a halt the site plan review for the proposed 87-acre site on Salt Springs Road as well as a much larger solar farm planned for a site off of Duguid Road, adjacent to Fayetteville-Manlius High School.
The public hearing was a standing-room-only affair, with a number of local teens on hand bearing signs and banners in support of solar development. The group of about 30 local teens gathered outside Manlius Town Hall a half hour before the meeting, chanting a variety of pro-solar messages.
“In the past few weeks, there’s been major pushback against solar,” said Elena Pacheco, carrying a bullhorn and leading the rally. “Today, we’re standing up for our futures.”
Manlius has been heavily targeted by solar developers in the last few years. To date, five solar farms have been approved by the town board or planning board, although none has broken ground yet. The moratorium would not affect those projects but would affect the Salt Springs and Duguid projects for a period of six months – time that could be critical if the state subsidies that would support these developments run out within that time frame.
Carson Weinand, representing CVE North America, the developer of the Duguid Road project, told the board that fears of an ever-increasing number of solar farms in Manlius are overblown because if the Salt Springs and Duguid projects are approved there will only be enough capacity in the electric grid in Manlius for potentially one additional solar farm.
“It seems like the main concerns are that solar applications keep coming and there will end up being too many developments in town,” Weinand said. “The bottom line after our rigorous analysis, looking at all the data, there’s availability for only one additional project – a small 2.4 megawatt project.”
“Because of that, the moratorium is not needed,” Weinand added.
His position was supported by many of the residents in the audience.
“We are a generation who are terrified about what our future will look like,” local teen Maia Chakin told the board. “These [climate change] issues are only going to get worse if we don’t do something now.”
Jane Tretler, a former librarian at East Syracuse Minoa schools, cited a number of extreme weather events from the past few weeks that have been attributed to climate change, including the excessive temperatures in the Pacific Northwest that contributed to nearly 200 deaths.
“We cannot bury our heads in the sand. It’s bad and it’s getting worse,” she said. “We must do this as quickly as we can.”
Not all the residents who spoke favored solar technology. Near the conclusion of the hearing two residents spoke warning that solar panels were failed technology that may pose environmental risks. As they spoke, teens lining the back of the board meeting room held up “Fact Sheets” refuting those claims.
Calling solar projects “expensive and inefficient boondoggles,” Salt Springs Road resident Michael Friend asked the town board for a complete ban on commercial solar.
It is unclear whether the board will pass the solar moratorium when they meet Aug. 11. Several board members said the town’s solar committee has already been working for several weeks to address the issues with the town’s current solar laws, which were developed in 2016.
“We’ve already got two months under our belts and we’ve made a lot of progress,” Councilor Katelyn Kriesel said following the meeting. “Several of the items we’ve already done.” Kriesel indicated she would likely vote in opposition to the moratorium.