Venango supervisors give thumbs down to proposed solar farm. Developer can appeal.

WATTSBURG — Venango Township supervisors have rejected an application to build a huge solar farm in the township.

Supervisors Dean Curtis, D.J. Austin and Mike Vogel voted unanimously Monday night to reject Wilson Solar LLC's application for a conditional use permit required to build a 902-acre, 80-megawatt solar farm along Jones Road.

"The board has given Wilson Solar's application careful consideration," Board of Supervisors Chairman Dean Curtis said. "We've taken our time, done everything we could do and made our decision based on the evidence presented."

That evidence included residents' concerns that the proposed solar farm would "destroy the character" of the rural neighborhood, would require the clear-cutting of 150 acres of trees, and could adversely affect the environment. Residents also raised concerns about noise generated by solar components and the possibility that some of the proposed 300,000 solar panels could catch fire.

Supervisors' decision was applauded by a standing-room-only crowd at the township municipal building.

"It is a project we didn't ask for and a fight we didn't want," Venango Township resident Bruce Whitehair said in thanking supervisors. "You have the great respect of our community. The strongest thing you could do, should this go to appeal, is to have a unanimous vote."

Wilson Solar has 30 days to appeal the decision to court, township Solicitor Anthony Angelone said.

Wilson Solar LLC, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Birch Creek Development, applied to the township in July for a conditional-use permit to build the solar farm on properties leased or purchased for the development.

Venango Township Planning Commission recommended approval of the permit in August but in November reversed its decision and recommended that supervisors reject it instead, saying that the development would not meet township objectives to preserve and enhance natural and cultural resources.

The solar farm additionally would not meet township goals to improve the aesthetics and visual impact of development; preserve a "healthful, secure and pleasant residential environment;" and protect and preserve farmland for continued agricultural use, planners said in November.

Supervisors had planned to vote on the company's application on Dec. 4. They tabled the vote until Jan. 8 to allow Wilson Solar time to respond to planners' revised recommendation.

Wilson Solar's response to revisions

In a written response, the company said that it would evaluate natural and cultural resources to ensure that the development would not adversely affect them.

And the solar farm would not drastically change the character of the neighborhood, as residents and planners contend, according to the Wilson Solar response.

"... the Project Site is largely farmland, or vacant land, with some industrial, and the surrounding area is largely rural farmland," the company said in the response submitted by its attorney, Lydia Caparosa. "The Project has a low impact on the land, which will not restrict its future use for agricultural or other purposes, and the Project has been carefully designed to reduce any negative aesthetic impact or other negative impact on neighboring properties."

The solar farm would be dismantled and the land returned to its original condition after 35 years, Wilson Solar said.

And by earlier approving a solar ordinance permitting solar projects as conditional uses in agricultural and industrial districts, Venango Township supervisors have already "legislatively determined that use to be appropriate in those zoning districts," Wilson Solar said.

Venango supervisors will reconsider the solar ordinance, Curtis said, in response to a resident's question on how the township will respond to future solar farm proposals.

"We're going to revisit it real quick," Curtis said.

Detailed findings of supervisors' research on the proposed solar farm and a summary of their decision to reject the conditional use application for its construction will be posted on the township website at venangotwp.com as early as Tuesday, Curtis said.

Reversing an earlier decision: Venango Township planners recommend rejecting solar farm application

The proposal: Giant solar farm is 'in the talking stages' in Venango Township

Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Venango supervisors reject solar farm application before SRO crowd