To the Editor:

I wrote this letter to the Knox Town Board and copied the Knox Planning Board and Albany County Planning Board.

I live near the proposed RIC Energy solar farm project on Thompsons Lake Road in Knox. The 4.4-megawatt solar farm is proposed for 22 acres and would require the removal of 18 acres of trees on privately owned land.

The industrial solar farm project is being granted a special permit within a residentially zoned area. That permit is allowed under a somewhat new solar farm amendment to local zoning laws.

I attended the Town of Knox Planning Board meeting in mid-January in which the project was granted conditional approval in a 5-to-2 vote.

I oppose the project’s approval for the following reasons:

— 1. I believe it is a violation of the spirit of municipal zoning laws;

— 2. I believe it is a violation of the spirit of the special solar-farm amendment to the town’s zoning law;

— 3. I believe the Knox Planning Board failed in its responsibility to residents. Because it is a special-use permit, I believe the Knox Planning Board has a responsibility to be more sensitive to local residents, like Al Gaige, of Whipple Road, who say the project will reduce property values and disrupt their lives. Nearly all residents in a mile radius oppose the project;

— 4. Although the property is in what most people call a rural area, there are still a significant number of residences near the proposed site. I believe it is unlawful and unethical to install an industrial-use project in a residentially zoned area and reduce property values and quality of life. The whole point of buying property in this part of Knox is to have open space and enjoy the protection of local laws that preserve and protect open space;

— 5. I believe this section of Knox is considered by many to be in the “viewshed” of Thacher State Park. I believe this project reduces the beauty of the area and will be an eyesore in a part of town that almost everyone in the Capital Region visits;

— 6. There is already a solar farm located less than two miles away on Old Stage Road. The new project is too close. Local residents don’t deserve to take on two solar farms; and

— 7. I acknowledge the benefits of clean energy and the benefits of annual PILOT [Payment In Lieu Of Taxes] payment to the town, county, and school district resulting from this project, but I think this solar farm should be located on a different plot of land in Knox.

For these reasons, I respectfully ask the Knox Town Board or the Albany County Planning Board to deny or halt the permit granted to RIC Energy to continue the project.

Simply put: It’s a bad idea.

Eli Fanning

Knox