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With several large solar arrays already in town, Ellington is balking at Greenskies Clean Energy’s proposal to cover another 21 acres of farmland with panels for a roughly 5-megawatt solar farm.
North Haven-based Greenskies applied in June to the state Siting Council for permission to build, and a vote is expected before the end of November.
Numerous Ellington residents have been complaining on social media that their town along with nearby East Windsor is getting oversaturated with solar farms, all at the expense of attractive rural scenery and active farmland.
In March, even before Greenskies came forward, First Selectman Laurie Burstein led local officials in passing an ordinance opposing any further commercial solar farms of more than 1 megawatt that would significantly and irreversibly damage “prime agricultural land, valuable environmental resources, rural landscapes, and agricultural opportunities upon which the community of Ellington was founded.”
Ellington’s conservation commission agreed that could be the case with the Greenskies plan, and Assistant Town Planner John Colonese recently sent that message in a letter to the Siting Council.
“The commission disapproves of converting working farmland into a large-scale solar photovoltaic electric generating facility and expresses concern that the solar facility may impact water and wildlife resources,” Colonese wrote.
The council is reviewing an extensive application from Greenskies to build on 21 acres of a 75-acre parcel along Schoolhouse Road. The current owner wants to lease the property to Greenskies for 20 years.
The company would install about 11,000 solar panels, and direct the energy produced into the power grid.
“The project as designed will not have adverse effects on quality forested areas, agricultural land,
or wetlands, and the project will not diminish the quality of life of those who live in the vicinity.” Greenskies told the Siting Council in its application.
The General Assembly earlier this year considered bills requiring more local input on Siting Council decisions, but those measures never advanced. During hearings on those bills, lawmakers heard from many disgruntled homeowners.
“In parts of Connecticut, specifically East Windsor/Enfield we have seen massive development of solar farms in what once was pristine, natural farmland, or forest,” Matthew Mazur told lawmakers.
“Over recent years, some roads I drive down are now unrecognizable as it is just a sea of black solar panels, where their were fields of flowers or trees or farmland. There is certainly a time and place for these developments, but not at the expense of natural habitats.”
Dozens of other residents from the region agreed. But others took a different view.
“We are currently working with a solar company to use about 45 acres (in two small parcels) of our 187-acre farm. We do not think that a town should be able to tell us what we can and cannot do with our land. We feel that we are being penalized as farmers,” wrote Kimberly and Ken Shores of Ellington.
“No one else has to defend their right to do whatever they want (within zoning) with the property they have owned and paid taxes on for years,” the couple wrote. “We are getting ready to retire and instead of developing the land and losing it forever, we would like to lease the land for 20 years to a solar company to keep it whole without impact to our neighbors, wildlife, traffic, the school system, etc.”
Burstein said Ellington already has more than 300 acres covered by solar panels. She said the Siting Council should be required to take into account local long-term development plans.
“We spend years working on that, only to have no rules or regulations (when the state allows a solar farm),” she said.
Greenskies already has farmland solar arrays in East Windsor, Orange, Waterford and Durham as well as other Connecticut communities, and is proposing more in Woodbury and Morris.
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