GROVELAND – The Town of Groveland passed a moratorium and prohibition on of solar farm development so that zoning laws can be updated to address such projects.
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Groveland Town Supervisor Bill Carman said that the ban only affects large-scale industrial-type projects. To date, no businesses have applied for such a project in Groveland. Residents can still operate private solar panels for their residences.
“The Town hasn’t received any applications for solar fields but the problem is we wouldn’t know what do do if we did,” said Carman. “There is a lot of interest in solar within the region but we better get our ducks in a row.”
Some residences in Groveland already have a few solar panels working. Carman says that such panels are not a problem.
“Some people in Groveland have solar panels on their houses right now,” said Carman. “With big solar projects happening in Avon and Mount Morris, this just gives time for our planning board to figure out what to do if someone proposes a big project in Groveland. There’s no concern, we’re just thinking ahead.”
Several other Livingston County towns have had solar talks, and every town is different.
Just this month, after much research, the Town of Lima decided to allow small private solar operations only, banning large multi-acre operations seen elsewhere in the region.
Meanwhile, Avon has embraced a solar field. As headlines declared in July 2016, Avon Central School cut the ribbon on a $3.4 million solar field that produces 1.9 million kilowatts of electricity per year. The school uses about 1.5 million kilowatts and says that it may sell the surplus.
(Photo/SED Website)