After almost three hours of discussion, the Sangerfield Planning Board decided to give a favorable recommendation to the proposed solar panel project on Brothertown Road.
The overall recommendation given to the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals came with a 4-1 vote, with Planning Board member Liz Kenny Barnes saying she found too many issues to endorse what could be the town’s first commercial solar field. The ZBA planned to meet Monday, Nov. 18 and make its decision on whether the project is a go.
Planning Board members reviewed the town’s ordinances, which do not contain provisions specifically for solar fields. The company looking to build, NextEra, has applied for a Special Use Permit on the property on the west side of Brothertown Road owned by Gallagher Farms LLC.
The discussion opened with a question by Barnes on whether NextEra, or its subsidiary DG New York, was a public utility as defined in the town’s regulations, and whether an SUP granted could be transferred to DG New York.
The lease option between Gallagher Farms is with Boulevard Associates, described by the two NextEra representatives at the meeting as an independent subsidiary of NextEra. “How can DG become the applicant for the permit when they have…