Connwood Foresters Inc. in the Rockfall section of Middlefield is seeking approval of a 984-panel solar array at 39 Cherry Hill Road.
MIDDLEFIELD— The Middlefield Planning and Zoning Commission is considering an application for a special permit to install a 984-panel, .975 megawatt solar voltaic array in the Rockfall section of town.
If approved, the array would be built on six acres  at 39 Cherry Hill Road, which is the location of Connwood Foresters Inc. The array, which would convert sunlight into electricity, would also be owned by the company. The applicant, according to the application, is Rockfall Solar One LLC.
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According to the company's website, if offers a variety of forestry services, including stewardship and urban forestry plans, timber harvesting and stand improvements and removing invasive species.
The 30-acre property is currently zoned General Industrial. The application was approved by the Inland, Wetlands and Waterways Commission March 18 and a public hearing was opened by the planning and zoning commission March 25. The hearing was continued to April 22.
According to the application, the installation will include the removal of all trees and brush in the array's footprint. The project will also include an equipment pad at its center.
According to town staff, the closest array to a residential property line is 131 feet to 260 Main St. The distance to the pad from the house is 559 feet. From the residence at 264 Main St. the distance to the closest array is approximately 308 feet, and to the equipment pad is about 617 feet.
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Those distances, staff said, are important because the equipment pads are known to make "the most objectionable noises." 
Town staff also noted that the disturbed areas range from 50 feet to 100 feet and recommended that the applicant reduce the size of the disturbed areas or explain the need for them to the commission.
Middlefield Town Planner Robin Newton said Tuesday that questions from the public at the public hearing, which was continued, centered mainly around buffering to the residents on Main Street and the type of panels being installed.
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"The public will continue to be able to ask questions and provide comment at the next meeting," Newton said.
Steven has been a reporter for more than 30 years, spending most of that time at the Hartford Courant. He has covered schools, crime, courts, politics, public safety, business and the mortgage industry. His main area of coverage for Hearst now is development in Meriden and Waterbury. In his free time Steven enjoys camping, the beach, reading mysteries, discovering new IPAs and roller coasters and spending time with his family.
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