[1beautifuldaughter]

I just received a notice from my town that someone put in for special use variance with the town to install whats being called a large scale solar energy installation. Its out of sight behind my house on 84 acre's. I know little if any negative affects of something like this and think its probably better that a housing development. But I know there's a lot of smart people here on this forum that could tell me what if anything I should watch for or be concerned about. Last thing I need right now is for another negative value impact on my property. Any heads up info would be greatly appreciated. They will be having a public hearing soon for home owners who have any reason to disapprove, Thanks

[Chris65LeMans]

Directly behind your house, (adjoining your lot), or a little further?

[1beautifuldaughter]

There are 2 flag lots allowing for homes up behind me so there is an acre or so buffer that I don't own.

[Chris65LeMans]

My only concern would be "decrease in property values due to a commercial operation nearby." Hard to say if this is an issue for you or not - especially without knowing specifics.

For instance: there's a hardware store getting built at the edge of my neighborhood - about 1/2 mile from my house. I like that, but I'd be upset if that was just over my back wall.

[Johnnygoose]

Some things you may want to look in to.

Are they going to change the existing grade and cause any drainage issues for you.

"Large Scale" means lots of construction traffic and noise, how will that be handled.

Property taxes, will they pay their fair share, I'm not in favor of higher taxes but I'm also not in favor of businesses that get an unfair break.

An acre is not much of a buffer, what is it going to look like from your house, now would be a good time to ask that they plant some trees to block your view if that's a concern.

[Deadhead]

Go to the hearing and any other meetings held by your county Board of Supervisors or similar. There will be plenty of the tin foil hat types there voicing every concern you never thought of. That will allow you to better make your decision as to pro or con. Many really big arrays are big "farms" with gravel lots occupied by large areas of panels. Since we don't know what their definition of 'large' is there is no way to tell if it is that or just a big house with a bunch of panels on it. Go to the meetings/hearings & you will know what they are proposing. I am sure they have the minutes on-line too, so you might be able to find out what kind of permits or debate there has been about the site in the county prior to the hearing.

[Jack Gifford]

I couldn't find any significant drawbacks to being adjacent. I studied it for the last couple of months because Cypress Creek Renewables is making lucrative lease offers to landowners throughout New York State, including me. I probably would have signed, given a couple of more meetings with my lawyer- but Cypress Creek ended the dialogue too quickly for me.