PSE&G Solar Farm Clears First Hurdle

PSE&G took the first step in building a $5 million solar project on Jessup Road when the West Deptford zoning board approved their use variance Tuesday night, but not before residents voiced their opposition to and frustration with the project.

Five residents, among about 20 who attended the meeting, spoke out against the project, focusing mostly on concerns over their property values and aesthetics, as the project will convert what had been leased as a farm field into the solar installation.

Ralph Partridge, who lives on Jessup Road across from the proposed site, described a bucolic vista of crops, grazing deer and migrating geese as he talked about the residents’ opposition to the plan.

“I would rather see you lease it back to the farm,” Patridge said. “I’d even put up with the dust and the corn stalks blowing in my yard.”

The site PSE&G has proposed for the 859-kilowatt solar farm is a few hundred feet north of Pennfield Drive on Jessup Road. Andy Powers, a project manager for PSE&G, said the move to put in solar panels is part of the company’s Solar For All program, which aims to put 80 megawatts of solar power in New Jersey.

There’s a PSE&G substation right next to the field, which would be used to hook the solar farm into the power grid.

Ron Igneri, a planner and engineer who gave testimony on behalf of PSE&G, was quick to point out that land is zoned for light industrial, meaning anything from clothing manufacturers to a trucking terminal to a packing plant would be allowable under the township’s code.

“Putting in a passive use, such as a solar farm, is a good alternative from a planning perspective,” Igneri said, also noting that solar power installations are considered an inherently beneficial use.

As for the aesthetics, Igneri said PSE&G plans a buffer of trees around the site, which would help conceal the 6-and-a-half-foot-high panels from view.

Cory Fanalli, who lives across the street from the proposed site, was one of several residents upset by PSE&G’s choice of location, especially considering many of the residents bought their houses based on the view of the farm field.

“We’re all for solar, it’s just where they’re deciding to put it,” she said. “It’s basically residential.”

Several residents expressed concerns over the effect on property values, which PSE&G attorney David Richter said wouldn’t be an issue. He said the company’s previous solar installations haven’t caused a drop in home values, and that there should be “minimal to no impact” from this proposed solar farm.

Nancy Patridge, another neighbor to the project, disagreed, and said she thinks her property value will take a hit from the solar farm.

“This is one of the very first times that I’m very sorry I moved to West Deptford,” she said.

But property values were just one facet, as Fanalli expressed outrage that PSE&G chose not to ask residents how they felt about the project before submitting it to the board, saying it was another example of a big business coming in and forcing a project through.

“Just because they own the property doesn’t mean they have to put solar panels there,” she said.

Zoning board member Michael McManamy pointed out that PSE&G has just as many rights as a property owner as the homeowners across the street, and noted that, should the solar farm be built, it would lock in the property for the next 25 years, preventing less-desirable alternatives.

“We all rolled that dice,” he said. “The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.”

Igneri said he sympathized with the homeowners, but reiterated his scenario of a solar farm versus a packing plant coming to the same spot, given the zoning laws.

“It’s buyer beware,” he said.