Reading Anthracite solar farm hearing postponed in Foster; affiliate seeking approval in West Mahanoy
FILE - A map shows where a proposed solar farm would be located in West Mahanoy Township.
BUCK RUN – A hearing regarding a proposed solar farm in Foster Township — the second of several proposed by the Rich Family of Companies — was postponed Wednesday.
Reading Anthracite was seeking a conditional use approval to build a commercial solar facility on reclaimed mine land along Valley Road near Sunbury Road in Buck Run.
That hearing has been moved to Nov. 14, as everything was not ready in time for the hearing.
It would have been the second hearing for a solar farm proposed by a Rich company in Schuylkill County.
Last Wednesday, Schuylkill Township heard a proposal for a special exception to allow Reading Anthracite to build a similar solar energy facility along Route 209 between Tamaqua and Tuscarora.
That hearing was continued until Oct. 19 so the company could gather more information, the Lehighton Times News reported.
According to the newspaper, that proposal would be a 10-acre facility on land primarily used for private recreation.
Another Rich company will plead their case to zoners in West Mahanoy Township next week for another solar facility.
JMB, Ltd., is seeking approval for an 11-acre solar farm on their property south of the Morea Road near South Eleanor Avenue.
They argue that the use of the property for electric generation via solar energy counts as an essential services use, which would be a permitted use in an Industrial district.
“The Applicant is proposing a solar farm to generate electricity to be used by PP&L, a public utility,” their filing says.
If that argument is insufficient, the company also offered arguments requesting solar generation be added as a new use, or they should be granted a variance as the property is “former mining property [and] has unique physical characteristics that make it difficult to develop in conformity with the current Ordinance.”
A hearing is set for 4:30pm Oct. 12 at the West Mahanoy Township Municipal Building in Shenandoah Heights.
About Author
