Buffalo Township tables vote on approving solar farms
BUFFALO TWP — For the second consecutive month, supervisors voted to table a decision on whether to grant Atlanta-based energy company SolAmerica a conditional use permit to operate solar farms on two sites in the township.
SolAmerica is seeking permits to operate large-scale solar installations at parcels of land along Grimm and Bear Creek Roads that total nearly 100 acres — 19.25 acres for the Grimm Road property, and 80 acres for the Bear Creek Road property.
According to board chairman Ron Zampogna, SolAmerica’s engineer requested that both votes be tabled until August, so they were.
“They have called the township, talked to (township manager) Mr. (Rich) Hill, and asked for it to be tabled,” Zampogna said.
After Wednesday night’s meeting, Hill said the company did not give a specific reason they wanted the matter tabled.
At the previous board of supervisors meeting, on June 11, the board tabled a vote on approving permits for both sites after vocal and impassioned public comment that took the meeting to about 10 p.m.
No representatives from SolAmerica, or any company working with them, were present during Wednesday night’s meeting. The owner of the Bear Creek Road property, Phil Vassallo, was present, but chose not to speak during public comment.
Plenty of other people, however, did, and many of them reiterated the concerns that were addressed during the previous month’s board of supervisors meeting.
Tom Goldscheitter, treasurer for the Butler County Farm Bureau, cited statistics that the state of Pennsylvania had lost about 600,000 acres of farmland between 2012 and 2014, and almost all of it was before solar farms became a topic of concern. In addition, he mentioned that the number of dairy farms in Butler County fell from 400 to just over 20.
“Solar wasn’t even a thing back then. That’s probably just development and things like that,” Goldscheitter told the Butler Eagle after the meeting. “So now something else has come up that’s going to take more farm ground away. Because there’s less farm ground due to housing plans and everything else, and now solar farms, it’s getting more and more expensive to farm, especially if you’re renting ground. It’s the law of supply and demand.”
Dave Hochbein lives on Grimm Road, right next door to one of the proposed solar farm properties. He says that the stress of the situation has “...taken five years away from my life.”
“I’m concerned about having a solar farm 100 feet from my house,” Hochbein told the Butler Eagle after the meeting. “I don’t want to be looking up at an eight-foot-high wall when I wake up in the morning.”
During the meeting, Hochbein mentioned an upcoming bill in the Pennsylvania legislature that could throw a monkey wrench in the discussion if it came to fruition.
Senate Bill 336, proposed by state senator and former gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, R-33rd, would prohibit large-scale solar development on “prime agricultural land” and would encourage solar development on alternative sites, such as brownfields and old industrial sites. As of early July the bill has yet to be voted on.
“I would like to see if we could delay the vote to see if this passes, so we don't have to worry about solar farms in Buffalo Township.” Hochbein said.
