A look at the land that could be lost

Recent contact with a journalist from the MadRapp Recorder/Greene Journal indicated there's misinformation being spread that the land under lease to Sunfish Solar LLC and its European parent company Baywa r.e is ill suited to agriculture. In fact, the project includes Prime Farmland and Farmland of Statewide Importance: approximately 25 and 43 percent, respectively. One of the four leasehold parcels along route 522 is visibly under cultivation (but difficult to get a photo of). Others are in hay production or used for grazing. Below are a few photos taken June 16 of another leasehold parcel along Old Office Road with corn growing and hay recently baled. There's also a field with rye in cultivation.

Citizens for Sunfish Solar - BayWa's local lobbying effort

The buffer to screen the proposed project along the section of Old Office Road shown above will rely on existing shrubs and trees - there will be no additional buffer along the project line from Harmony Forest Lane to Mountain Run. The solar plant in this area will be visible to residents and vehicular traffic.

In addition to the potential loss of agricultural land, this project as planned is poorly sited as it is adjacent to the Mountain Run floodplain and on property with extensive wetlands. 60 stormwater retention basins are currently planned for mitigation of the panel runoff. When a site has this "complexity of terrain" [developer BayWa's wording] and requires this much water management, it is a bad site. Link to article about lawsuit against Baywa for stormwater issues on adjoining property

Above, another view from Old Office Road of the area that has been hayed and the limited buffer that would remain if this project is approved.

Below, the current site plan (4/26/24) with approximate location of photos above marked by star. According to the developer's project Narrative dated April 2024 (the 4th narrative adjustment) the project comprises 932 acres; 575 acres will be impacted by project construction and 434 acres will be covered by approximately 180,000 solar modules.