The Pine Plains Planning Board gave final approval to major projects planned by Stewart’s and The Stissing Center at its Sept. 13 meeting. Stewart’s was given the okay to replace their building on S. Main Street with a slightly larger store set back further from the highway. Gas pumps will be replaced and new landscaping developed. The Stissing Center was given permission to undertake an extensive renovation that will include a new roof, an elevator, improvements to the cellar, as well as offices and a gallery on the top floor. Both projects are expected to begin this fall.
The main focus of the meeting, however, was the standing room only public hearing on Carson Power’s application for a special use permit and site plan approval for 42 acres of solar panels proposed near Pulvers Corners. Over 30 members of the public attended the hearing and nine people addressed the planning board.
Credit: Lenora Champagne
Several speakers, including land use lawyer John Lyons, representing several homeowners in the area, noted that the project does not meet some of the standards set for a special use permit, such as that the project should be compatible with local character and shall not impact surrounding properties. He quoted Nan Stoltenberg, who was a consultant on the town’s comprehensive plan, that aesthetic visual impact is just one component. “Even if you can’t see it, it will be there,” he said.
Helene Marsh, a former alternate on the planning board, who has a masters in environmental science, wrote a letter to the planning board outlining the points she thinks do not meet the special use permit criteria. She closed her brief remarks by urging the board to “Do the right thing: Deny the special use permit.”
Joan Franzone, who lives on Main Street, noted that people who want solar panels are free to put them on their roofs. “We have sufficient energy sources—coal, oil, and wood. What does that spell?” Cow, someone noted. “Can of worms,” she said, suggesting that is what the solar project will open up.
Ned Sullivan, president of Scenic Hudson, said his organization has agreed to hold a conservation easement over the entire Carson Power property—including the 42 acres of solar and 128 acres of undeveloped lands in perpetuity—if the project is permitted by the planning board.
Later, Frank Fish, of BFJ Consultants, who has been working with the planning board on this project, pointed out that they are recommending that Carson Power agree to 19 suggested conditions to qualify for the special use permit. He also noted that, while Pine Plains requires a special use permit, the state solar law does not have a special permit provision.
Credit: Lenora Champagne
At least two speakers and a letter writer criticized the consultants the planning board has used during this process, including town lawyer Warren Replansky and Environmental Engineer George Schultz. This prompted chair Mike Stabile to remark, “Consultants that help us through this process are independent, paid by the town, and have no relationship to the applicant. Everyone is above board. We have been studying this since November. None of us has a stake in this.” In a phone conversation, Stabile clarified that the planning board has “read the Hudsonia report and anything anyone has submitted, letters from members of the public, and that consultants have supplied impartial feedback.” Hudsonia is a conservation science organization whose report was critical of some aspects of the environmental review of the solar site. All public comments on the project are posted on the town website.
At their Aug. 23 meeting, the planning board issued a negative declaration following a months’ long State Environmental Quality Review process, indicating they found that the solar array posed no significant environmental impacts. New York’s solar law does not require a special use permit for projects, but it is a condition of the zoning law in Pine Plains. The planning board will continue consideration of the special use permit application and site plan approval for the Carson Power proposal at a workshop meeting on Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.
Prior to the public hearing, the Herald interviewed Kathleen Augustine, one of the land owners who voiced opposition to Carson Power receiving a special use permit at the planning board meeting. Augustine was on the Pine Plains United steering committee that opposed the original version of the Durst development project in 2003 that envisioned 951 homes on over 2,000 acres in Pine Plains and Milan.
Some of her land has a conservation easement with the Dutchess Land Conservancy. She has “the luxury of protecting green space. What we have to offer here in Pine Plains is our environment.” She agrees that solar is a good transition from fossil fuel. “The issue is the location,” she stated. “Why not put solar panels on roofs of parking garages and malls? Or on roofs of hospitals, or at an airport?”
Augustine added, “This one involves cutting 26 acres of trees—destroying habitat– and installing 24,000 photovoltaic panels. How can that not have an environmental impact? Solar should be put in appropriate places. Converting land in a rural hamlet into solar fields isn’t the answer.” She said the people who are opposed to the solar project would like to be acknowledged and are disappointed that they and their consultants haven’t been listened to.
This article was revised after its original publication to clarify the statement made by Scenic Hudson at the planning board public hearing