Oct. 26—QUEENSBURY — The Queensbury Planning Board has approved site plans for the solar company Nexamp to build two 8-acre solar farms at the Warren County airport.
On Oct. 18, the board voted to approve the projects after a public hearing was held.
Paul Kilmartin, a resident who lives near the airport, spoke out against the plans at the meeting, questioning the efficiency of the solar panels and asked the board not to approve the plans for the sake of farmland surrounding the proposed area.
"They want to use 58 acres for solar panels. There is a farmer using the land near Hicks Road for corn right now. If they build this, that's 20 years you are taking away from farming," he said. "We just keep building and building and there aren't any more farms in Queensbury. We are taking all the agriculture that provides food out."
Under the names Southern and Northern Gateway Renewables LLC, the company applied to use 27 acres of an 80-acre plot of land at the airport for a 8.25-acre, 5.0-megawatt solar farm with 16.5-foot-high to 19.5-foot-high panels, for the southern site. The location is described as south of the airport on the west side of Queensbury Avenue. The solar panels will be about 3,000 feet from the runway, according to the site plans.
The northern site would place solar panels at the airport as well, with an address listed as 443 Queensbury Ave. Those plans include using 31 acres of a 510-acre lot for an 8.3-acre, 5.0-megawatt solar farm. The site plans for the northern sit require an acre and a half of tree clearing.
Both sites will be enclosed by an 8-foot high chain link fence, which will not conceal the panels, but follows safety and visibility requirements due to the proximity to the airport.
Dallas Manson, vice president of business development at Nexamp, said the solar panels will benefit the community.
"Both of these facilities will be community solar facilities, which means we will be selling the power to local residents at a discounted rate," Manson told the Planning Board.
The projects had already received approval from Warren County prior to the approval from the Queensbury Planning Board.
___
(c)2022 The Post Star (Glens Falls, N.Y.)
Visit The Post Star (Glens Falls, N.Y.) at www.poststar.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
