To the Editor:
This is an open letter to the Knox Town Board.

I live just over a mile from a newly proposed RIC Energy solar farm project at 1953 Thompsons Lake Road and less than a half-mile from a similar project proposed last year on the same road. The solar farm project advanced last year failed due in part to opposition from residents and the Albany County Planning Board. I believe residents, the county planning board, and the state Department of Environmental Conservations should offer similar opposition to stop this new project from being built.

To advance that effort, I attended a Knox Planning Board meeting in early February in which the new project was discussed in a public hearing. And, I reviewed documents submitted by RIC Energy posted on the town website here: https://www.knoxny.org/.

Both solar-farm projects were granted special permits, allowing an industrial project within a residentially zoned area. That permit is allowed under a solar farm amendment to local zoning laws.

Here are the reasons I oppose the latest RIC solar farm project at 1953 Thompsons Lake Road:

— 1. The property at 1953 Thompsons Lake Road shares a border with the Margaret Burke Wildlife Management Area. The proposed project is literally right next door. The solar array proposal stands in direct opposition to the mission of the wildlife area. The state DEC says the 245-acre area is dedicated to managing wildlife, habitat, and related recreation such as hunting and hiking. The proposed solar farm will place fenced-in solar panels over 35 acres of a 66-acre parcel. It would be a major disruption to wildlife and related recreation and reduce the value of the wild area;

— 2. The new project is 1.2 miles from the Thacher State Park boundary. 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;

— 3.The new project is near a busy section of Route 156 and Thompsons Lake Road, which includes a major intersection and vehicles routinely travel at 50 miles per hour or more along winding roadways. As the solar panels do along Route 32 in Westerlo near Greenville, I believe the sun’s glare from the panels will produce dangerous driving conditions at certain times of day. That’s part of the reason the town of Westerlo enacted a moratorium on solar projects;

— 4. I believe this project is a violation of the spirit of municipal zoning laws and the spirit of the special solar-farm amendment to the town’s zoning law;

— 5. Because it is a special-use permit, I believe the Knox Planning Board has a responsibility to be more sensitive to local residents, like Chris Kryzack, of nearby Pleasant Valley Road, who say the project will reduce property values and disrupt their lives. Nearly all residents in a mile radius oppose the project;

— 6. Although the property is in what most people call a rural area, there are still a fair 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;

— 7. 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

— 8. I acknowledge the benefits of clean energy and the benefits of annual PILOT [payment in lieu of taxes] payment to the town, county, and Berne-Knox-Westerlo School District resulting from this project, but I think this solar farm should be located on a different plot of land in Knox, not next to a state wildlife management area, state park, or residences.

For these reasons, I respectfully ask the Knox Town Board, the Knox Planning Board, the Albany County Planning Board, and the DEC to help stop RIC Energy from building this industrial solar farm.

Let’s protect our wildlife areas, state parks, roadways, and residents in this scenic part of Albany County. Thank you.

Eli Fanning

Knox   

Editor's Note: Knox’s zoning law permits large-scale solar arrays in residential areas upon planning board approval.