LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — With all members in agreement on the fine points of a draft large-scale commercial solar zoning ordinance, the Cochecton Town Board presented a final draft to town attorney Karen Mannino at its January 11 meeting. Pending her review, the ordinance will be submitted to the town planning board and zoning board of appeals and then introduced at a public hearing prior to a vote on adoption.

The town has opted out of commercial solar tax exemptions permitted under New York State law, meaning that full commercial tax assessments will apply to all commercial solar installations within the town. Board member and local businessman Sean Nearing said, “This is the fairest option for Cochecton. Why should this business have tax exemptions not afforded to other businesses and residents?”

Supervisor Gary Maas agreed, adding that solar startups already have several advantages over other businesses in the form of grants and 15-year state tax exemptions.

A major sticking point of the draft ordinance was concern about site cleanup costs in the event of bankruptcy or abandonment by the solar company. To guarantee that taxpayers will not be saddled with those costs, establishment of a cash escrow fund (in an amount to be determined by the planning board and its engineer) will be required before an operating permit is issued. Fund amount will be subject to review by the planning board and its engineer at five-year intervals, with fund amount adjustments to reflect site restoration costs at time of each review.

The board defined abandonment as 150 days of inactivity at the site, a concept challenged by code enforcement officer Greg Semenetz, who asked how town officials would know if the site was no longer active. Maas said when electricity is no longer being produced it would be considered inactive. But Semenetz said the town has no way of knowing if electricity is being produced.

The other provision under discussion was site setbacks. Although the board was agreed that 200-foot setbacks from roadways should be standard, they had not given much thought to setbacks from adjoining properties until Mannino advised that adjacent property owners could claim property devaluation caused by solar panel views. They were then unanimous in requiring 360˚, 200-foot setbacks.

The last issue decided was the most contentious: whether to permit large-scale commercial solar installations in the town’s hamlet districts of Cochecton, Lake Huntington, Fosterdale and Cochecton Center. The board agreed late last year that they should be permitted in agricultural and rural zoning districts, but were evenly split on the question of permitting them in hamlet districts until Maas broke the tie with his nay vote. However, when the board revisited the question this year, it voted unanimously in favor of hamlet district permission.

Maas summarized the prospect of large-scale commercial solar installations within the town as being limited, for the time being, to the possibility of one or two sites that meet current requirements for operation, including access to three-phase power supply and proximity to a substation. But he also said rapidly-evolving technology could soon change that.