Municipal Board gives go-ahead to Solaris project in East Hawkesbury

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

© AgMedia Inc.

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

The Ontario Municipal Board’s go-ahead to a solar development on farmland in East Hawkesbury Township comes just as the province prepares to release regulations that would ban solar developments from prime agricultural land.

The decision approving Ottawa-based Solaris Energy Partners Inc. zoning request amendment, site plan application and land severance plan was delivered verbally at a hearing that wrapped up on Tuesday in the township, an hour’s drive southeast of Ottawa. The company had complained that the township didn’t process the applications within the provincially prescribed time limit.

The decision follows the Board’s May decision to strike down a township bylaw that had suspended the farm’s development.

But according to a Toronto Star report, on June 2, George Smitherman, Ontario’s energy minister, warned that regulations under the new Green Energy Act would restrict solar development on prime agricultural land.

Robert Kirby, East Hawkesbury’s mayor, says he hasn’t had a chance to calculate how much the municipality has spent in fighting the development.

“We tried to convince them (the province) different and probably within the next six to eight weeks the province will object to this kind of stuff on Class 1, 2 and 3 (agricultural) land.”

Greg Pruner, Solaris president and CEO, says he’s encouraged by the Board’s decision but says the provincial regulations “would have a big impact” on the solar industry if they are approved. He notes that Statistics Canada classifies more than five million acres of land in Ontario as suitable for agriculture. Solar parks would only impact a tenth of one per cent of that amount. “So it’s a very insignificant piece.”

In the meantime, it’s full steam ahead on the East Hawkesbury project.

“We will probably begin site preparation details in the fall with the bulk of construction happening as soon as we’re able in the new year,” he says.

The project, located on 300 acres, is projected to generate 30 megawatts of power, enough to supply 5,400 homes.

Pruner says concerns about the farm’s visual appearance will be addressed using buffers. He says his company has consulted experts who confirm the development will not generate stray voltage, another major concern aired by residents during a special Monday night session of the hearing. BF