Venango Township residents sound off against planned solar farm. What are their concerns?

WATTSBURG — Noise, environmental impacts and aesthetics were among concerns raised by residents during a public hearing on a proposed solar farm in Venango Township on Wednesday.

About 80 people attended the evening hearing at the Venango Township Municipal Building garage to comment on the 902-acre, 80-megawatt solar farm planned along Jones Road in Venango Township by Wilson Solar LLC, a division of St. Louis-based Birch Creek Development.

The planned solar farm's effect on neighboring property values was a major concern of residents who disagreed with an appraiser's findings that the development would not impact property values.

The determination was by Rich Kirkland, owner of Kirkland Appraisals LLC in Raleigh, North Carolina, who outlined his findings via speaker phone during the hearing. Kirlkand was hired by Birch Creek Development to look into residents' concerns raised during a first public hearing on the plan in September, said Erie attorney Jenna Bickford, who represents the developers.

The solar farm would not increase traffic in the area, would not produce odors or use chemicals typical in farming, would not generate noise audible in neighboring homes, and would be contained and screened by fencing and landscaping, Kirkland said.

Only six homes are within 1,000 feet of the proposed solar panel arrays. The closest neighboring home is 330 feet, or roughly the length of a football field, away, Kirkland said.

Kirkland, who said that he has worked on similar appraisals in a number of states, including Pennsylvania, said that data shows that 80-85% of solar farms have no impact on neighboring property values. Five percent, he said, have negatively impacted values, as determined by property sales.

"I more often find that they have a positive impact," he said.

The study did not consider the proposed solar farm's potential effects on wildlife or the environment, Kirkland said in response to questions by township solicitor Anthony Angelone, who at times rebuked residents for speaking out during Kirkland's testimony.

Residents question conclusions from solar farm study

Residents expressed doubts about Kirkland's analysis and conclusions, saying that the "desktop analysis" mostly done remotely using Google Earth, GIS and property value data might not reach the same conclusions of an analysis done locally by an appraiser familiar with the township.

"People with common sense who knew this area wouldn't build a solar farm in Venango Township," resident Nicole Keller said, due to potential impacts to wildlife and the nearby West Branch French Creek, as well as the region's typically heavy snow.

Residents can hire a local appraiser to consider how a solar farm might affect property values, Bickford said. But those appraisers would not have the experience and expertise of appraisers who have studied solar projects elsewhere, she said.

Residents said that landscaping and setbacks required for the solar farm would not offset the loss of open land and more than 100 acres of trees that would be cut down for the project.

"Our community is going to be ruined aesthetically," said Tina Trohoske.

Noise also remains a concern, said Bruce Whitehair, who played a recording of a kind of buzzing noise from components of an operating solar farm. Whitehair, whose Jones Road home would be encircled by the solar farm, asked township supervisors what has become of a list of conditions that residents proposed to minimize and monitor the effects of such a large solar farm.

The proposed solar farm would include 300,000 solar panels, according to plans presented to the township, supervisors said.

"It's just too big for our small township," Whitehair said.

Residents also questioned the type of solar panels that would be used at the site and the chemicals that they might contain. Others questioned whether money set aside by developers in a decommissioning bond would be adequate to remove the solar panels and return land to its former state once the solar farm reaches the end of its useful lifespan in 20 to 30 years.

Resident Brian Butler asked supervisors to consider the wishes of a majority of township residents before they decide whether to approve developers' application for a conditional use permit for the solar farm and to notify residents well in advance of any vote on the issue. Some residents said they learned of Wednesday's hearing just days before.

"We just want you to represent the majority of this community," Butler said. "We want you to do what's right and represent us."

What's next?

Supervisors have 45 days to decide whether to grant the conditional use permit for the solar farm.

"There's a lot of material here" to consider, Angelone said.

Binders with information on the proposed development, petitions and letters for and against the project, and information provided by supervisors' research will be available to the public at the township building beginning Monday, Angelone said.

Transcripts from the two public hearings also will be available to the public once they are available, Angelone said.

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Valerie Myers can be reached at vmyers@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Venango residents pack township building for 2nd solar farm hearing