Alexander Road

Town of Batavia Planning Board unanimously approved special use permits and site plans for two solar projects on Alexander Road at their meeting on Tuesday.

The projects are located at 9183 Alexander Road, known as the Pike Road Solar Farm Project, and 9071 Alexander Road.

The resolutions passed by the board entitle San Francisco-based Renewable Properties (RPNY Solar 6, LLC) to construct and operate the solar projects.

If the owner/operator changes, the special use permit must be reviewed again by the planning board.

Before a building permit is issued, the company must finalize a host community agreement with the Town of Batavia to include annual payments of $2,500 per megawatt for 25 years with a 2 percent annual escalation of payments or a lump sum payment approved by the Town Board.

The resolution includes provisions on grading and landscaping.

There are also provisions to handle any changes to the development plan.

The company must certify the completed project complies with the special use permit, applicable codes, and industry standards.  

There must also be sufficient funds on deposit to remove the installation and restore landscaping in accordance with the decommissioning plan.

The company must remove the installation at the end of its useful life in accordance with the decommissioning plan.

Town inspectors will be allowed reasonable access to the property during construction to check drainage and stormwater provisions.

Renewable Properties must abide by the required landscaping plan.

The project must be fenced and locked. The fire department will be provided keys.

A year after the project goes into operation, Renewable Properties must return to the planning board for a review of the special use permit.

Finally, Renewable Properties must obtain and retain appropriate insurance throughout the life of the project.

San Francisco-based Renewable Properties is entering the Genesee County solar market with the proposed development of a pair of independent community solar projects on Alexander Road in the Town of Batavia.

Brian Madigan, the company’s senior permitting manager, introduced the two ground-mounted plans on Thursday night at the Genesee County Planning Board meeting at County Building 2 on West Main Street Road.

Renewable Properties, working with Bergmann Associates engineering firm of Rochester, is seeking approval of special use permits to install a 14-acre, 3-megawatt solar farm on a 29-acre parcel at 9183 Alexander Rd. and a 10-acre, 1.6-megawatt system at 9071 Alexander Rd.

Both systems are earmarked for prime farmland in parcels zoned Agricultural-Residential.

“We’re excited to get going,” Madigan said after the meeting, noting that a yearlong moratorium on solar projects in the town has ended.

County planners recommended approval of both projects, stipulating that the applicant should seek 9-1-1 Address Verification with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office to ensure that the address of the system meets 9-1-1 standards.

The 3-megawatt system, known as Pike Road Solar Project, is located just north of the intersection of Alexander Road and Pike Road on property owned by John and Kerry Hylkema. Documents indicate it will utilize 6,942 solar panels and 24 string inverters, with an overall height of the array exceeding 15 feet.

The 1.6-megawatt system, knowns as Alexander Road Solar Project, is located about a third of a mile from the other proposed site -- just south of the intersection of Alexander Road and Rose Road on property owned by Daniel Reuter. It will utilize 3,718 solar panels and 13 string inverters, also with an overall height of the array exceeding 15 feet.

Both property owners have signed 35-year lease agreements with Renewable Properties, which also is developing solar projects in Lockport in Niagara County and Marilla in Erie County, Madigan said.

As community solar initiatives, both proposed solar farms allow Town of Batavia residents who are National Grid customers to subscribe to part of a larger, offsite shared system and receive credits (savings) on their electric bills.

Kristin Jacobs, assistant project manager at Bergmann Associates, said the two projects, combined, will provide electricity for close to 1,500 homes.

The proposals require approval by the Batavia Town Planning Board before moving forward. They are on the agenda of that committee’s next meeting, set for 7 p.m. next Tuesday at the Batavia Town Hall on West Main Street Road.

Photo: Brian Madigan of Renewable Properties and Kristin Jacobs of Bergmann Associates address the Genesee County Planning Board on Thursday night. Photo by Mike Pettinella.

Reader Amy Michaels sent us this video of a black bear eating from her bird feeder on Alexander Road.

Another reader reported tonight seeing a black bear in the area of Law Street.

An injury accident has been reported in the area of Alexander and Cookson roads, Alexander.

Alexander Fire and Mercy EMS have been dispatched.

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