Overcast with rain showers at times. Low near 40F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..
Overcast with rain showers at times. Low near 40F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Updated: May 1, 2026 @ 9:01 pm
FILE
Saratoga County reporter
FILE
BALLSTON SPA — After four years, Finlo Solar is again seeking approval from the Ballston Spa planning and zoning boards for a solar field.
In 2022, Finlo, operating as Finlo-BR II LLC, submitted an application at the same site for a 5 megawatt solar project that it was unable to complete and is now returning with a proposal for an 8 megawatt project on two adjacent, combined land parcels totaling 98.8 acres.
Finlo Solar’s Nathaniel Doyno said one reason the company is pursuing the Goode Street site is its good natural screening from roads.
This would be the fifth solar project in the town.
However, the current proposal violates the town code, and for the application to be approved, Finlo must be granted two area variances by the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
The first variance would be to break the 150-acre cap that the town has placed on total solar arrays in the community. Right now, about 124 acres have already been captured by arrays in Ballston Spa. The Goode Street solar project would be 52 acres, and the company is seeking a 27-acre variance.
Finlo Solar and the property owner, Garth Ellms of Ellms Family Farm, previously appealed to the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals in February.
“If we allow you to exceed the 150-acre cap, every solar company is going to come here and pose the same scenario,” Vice Chair Patrick Whitton told the applicants in February.
On Tuesday, members of the zoning board echoed the ZBA’s stance.
“It is one of those things where the town did set and currently has a limit of 150 acres,” said Planning Board member Michael Zuritis Tuesday. “I find it hard for myself… to recommend to the Zoning Board of Appeals that a variance be granted for this.”
The project site is also within a rural zoning district and would require a second variance because of its proximity to wetlands. The second requested variance was brought up during Wednesday’s Planning Board meeting.
Town code states that solar systems should not exceed 35 percent of the land area if the property is located within the watershed overlay district, which is true in this case. Finlo is seeking 49 percent coverage.
When questioned by members of the board on Wednesday, a Finlo representative said that it would not be “economically feasible” to build within the existing town code.
“I don’t see the support there for granting the variance,” said Zuritis on Wednesday, and other members of the board unanimously agreed, echoing the stand.
The Planning Board tabled the application on Wednesday after declaring itself as the lead agency for the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) review process. The application requires a mandatory coordinated review as it falls under the Type I category of the act.
The applicant will be back in front of the Zoning Board of Appeals on May 6.
Saratoga County reporter Melanie Snyder can be reached at msnyder@dailygazette.net.
Saratoga County reporter
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