Preserve Bedminster.JPG
These signs have been popping up around Bedminster and Bernards townships by members of the Preserve Bedminster group, which opposes a solar power plant proposal currently before the town's land use board.
(Photo by Meghan D. Hodgin/NJ.com)
The Lawrenceville School solar farm off Route 206 (Main Street) in Lawrence.
—
Residents are gearing up for
two meetings next week that could prove influential in a company's proposal to
build a solar plant on what neighbors call a historic piece of farmland that
will only provide power to an out-of-town business.
Signs have even started popping up around town as groups
continue efforts to protest KDC Solar's application to build 49,000 solar
panels on Bedminster's Kirby Farm, which will solely support Sanofi's U.S.
corporate headquarters at 55 Corporate Drive in Bridgewater.
KDC Solar's application was deemed incomplete at a Jan. 3
Bedminster Township Land Use Board meeting, but on March 7, the board will
again attempt to determine whether the KDC Solar application is complete.
If all goes well for KDC Solar — a Bedminster company — a
public hearing will be scheduled for April 4, at which time the company will
seek preliminary and major final site plan approval for its project.
Also next week, on March 4, the township committee plans to
introduce an ordinance to amend and supplement the land-use regulations to
establish a solar or photovoltaic energy facilities and structures.
This move could potentially aid KDC Solar's application, as
it is also seeking a D variance to build the solar plant on a Bedminster property
currently zoned residential and provide power to a single end-user in
Bridgewater.
KDC Solar, through its wholly owned subsidiary KDC Solar
SA55 LLC, would construct and operate the 55-acre KDC/Sanofi Solar Facility on
Country Club Road, in Bedminster.
And that's where it gets sticky
Residents against the plan say they see no benefit in having
a solar power facility on Bedminster property if it doesn't even support any
homes or businesses in their own town.
A petition on Change.org
by the
, says the project — which
consists of 8-foot high solar arrays, access roads, concrete pads and multiple
10- and 20-ton inverter power stations surrounded by a 7-foot high chain link
fence — "will irreparably harm the area's natural resources and
destroy community's rural character."
to
preserve its farmland and protect its scenic vistas of the rural countryside
and villages.
also
has a
with
155 members.
Matinho said his concerns over the solar power plant center
around land disturbance and destruction, visual impairment to scenic Bedminster
and "significant diminution in real estate values — not only to the 30 or
so residents in the immediate vicinity, but to the entire surrounding area,
including western Bedminster and northern Bridgewater."
Matinho also noted that the Sanofi property is 149 acres,
"substantially larger than the Kirby Farm, yet the project is slated to be
built on Bedminster farmland because it is cheaper to build on farmland than it
is on the massive parking lots and/or rooftops at the Bridgewater corporate
campus of Sanofi," he said.
"Bedminster would receive all of the inherent
degradation of its community as well as municipal support costs for police,
fire, emergency medical and public works department while Sanofi, KDC Solar and
Bridgewater Township receive all of the benefits," he said.
While Matinho and his group oppose the solar power plant
project, they do support the use of renewable energy on landfills, rooftops and
parking lots," Matinho said. "But not at the expense of other
important and equally worthy land uses and planning goals such as the
preservation of farmland and open space."
In response to residents' concerns over the project, Jack
Cox, head of media relations for Sanofi's North America operations,
previously told NJ.com that it was his understanding that "KDC Solar has resubmitted
a site plan application package to the Township of Bedminster, and there should
be ample opportunity for discussions on the project, including why KDC selected
this specific site."
Cox said at the time that Sanofi looks forward to hearing
from members of the community and participating "in dialogue on the most
appropriate course for this project."
Thomas P. Lynch, executive vice president of KDC Solar, also
told NJ.com "it is our policy not to comment outside of the permitting
testimony on a project while an application is under review by the local
municipality."
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