PINE PLAINS — At its Thursday, June 15, meeting during executive session, the Pine Plains Town Board discussed instituting a moratorium on solar projects in the town. Town attorney Warren Replansky stated that no decision had been made, but that the town “recognizes that there are issues with regard to the current solar law that could be made better” and that “there is the potential for the proliferation of solar facilities within the town.”
Replansky indicated that he will prepare a moratorium law for the board to consider at a special meeting on Tuesday, June 27, at 7 p.m. Replansky noted that the law would have an exemption for pending applications, and include a “hardship provision” that would allow applications to seek a waiver from the town. Though the moratorium has yet to be drafted, this makes it likely that the Carson Power solar project would be unaffected by the moratorium, and the moratorium would temporarily halt only the proposal of new solar projects.
Noting that the town’s current solar zoning law had undergone a thorough two-year consideration process, Replansky said that the moratorium would nevertheless give the town the chance to “take a closer look and make changes,” stating “we want to make the law the best that we can.”
After the town board receives the moratorium law on June 27, it will be required to hold a public hearing on the matter, which would occur in “late July or August,” according to Replansky.
