“The Common Council will conduct a public hearing during Tuesday’s meeting on the proposed rezoning of the former Pine Brook Golf Club property on South Main Street from residential to commercial.
A portion of the Pine Brook Golf Club site at 280 S. Main St. is eyed for development by Eden Renewables, a Troy based developer of community solar farms, which has proposed purchasing approximately 58 acres of the 150 acre parcel to construct a solar array with a capacity of 7.5 MWp capable of powering about 1,225 homes.
Eden representatives hosted an open house at Pine Brook Golf Club in the former club house on June 26 to provide details on the proposed community solar project to area residents, to answer questions and to receive public input.
According to initial plans, solar panels would be installed on roughly 32 to 35 acres at the center of the 58 acre site with a gap of 15 to 20 feet between each row of axis tracker solar panel modules that are approximately eight and a half feet tall that follow the path of the sun throughout the day.
The site would be secured with a fence immediately surrounding the solar array and monitored with the use of closed-circuit television cameras. No on site staff would be employed, with Eden performing routine maintenance at the site a few times a year or as needed.
The solar farm would be screened from sight with additional trees and shrubs planted along the existing border surrounding the former golf course. Eden also plants and maintains indigenous pollinator friendly wildflowers throughout the area of solar arrays and works with local beekeepers to bring hives to the site to pollinate the flowers.
Developers have yet to bring plans for the community solar project before the city Planning Board to seek approval for construction of a solar farm on the Pine Brook property which is located in an R1 residential zone where solar farms are not an allowed use.”
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Onyon, Ashley. The Leader Herald September 9, 2019.