Government

RECAP: Town Board may restrict where solar projects can be built

Solar panels being constructed on the east side of Edwards Avenue. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
Solar panels being constructed on the east side of Edwards Avenue. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)

With Edwards Avenue in Calverton soon to be blanketed by solar panels, the Riverhead Town Board, at its work session Thursday, discussed plans to require solar energy farms to pay full taxes, and plans to eliminate solar energy farms as a permitted use in the Industrial C zone, which covers everything east of the Stony Brook Incubator to Edwards Avenue, and everything on the west side of Edwards Avenue, south of Route 25.

“I’m not comfortable with Edwards Avenue being wall-to-wall solar,” Supervisor Sean Walter told the board.

Industrial C zoning would include at least one proposed solar panel farm, on the former Calverton Links golf course site., and possibly two others others, including one on or near the Calverton Industries sand mine on Route 25, and one further north on Edwards Avenue on the west side of the road, both of which were selected by LIPA, but not specifically identified publicly, as LIPA only gave a range of street numbers for the sites.

A 30,000-panel solar farm is under construction on 45 acres on the east side of Edwards Avenue, which is zoned Industrial A, where solar farms would continued to be permitted.

•The board also discussed a proposal to create a blighted property code in which properties would be assessed points for various violations – 30 points for rodent infestation, for instance – and any property with 100 points or more would be deemed blighted and face fines or up to $5,000.

The proposal did not appear to have support from a majority of board members in its current form.

• Board members also discussed proposal putting restrictions on how long and how dogs can be kept tethered outdoors, and a proposal to require dogs picked up by the town to be spayed before they can be returned to their owners.

•Also, the board discussed putting weight restrictions on Twomey Avenue in Calverton to keep large trucks from using the road.

To read what else was discussed at the work session, click below to read a recap of News-Review reporter Tim Gannon’s life blog of the meeting and scroll down for the meeting agenda.

Live Blog Riverhead Town Board work session 03-26-2015

 

March_26,_2015_-_Agenda by Timesreview