North Castle Delays Action on BESS-Related Zoning Text Amendment
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The North Castle Town Board recently postponed taking a vote on a resolution to exclude battery energy storage systems (BESS) from being considered a public utility until officials could clarify certain points of the proposed law.
At the board’s last meeting on July 24, officials postponed action after there were questions about whether the law as written could inadvertently limit practical uses for energy storage for individual homes.
Complicating the matter for the board, was that the item on that evening’s agenda also stated that the resolution was to prohibit BESS systems, even though the proposed law does not explicitly use that language.
The town is looking to protect itself against larger-scale systems that could pose safety risks to the community. Incidents of fires at BESS systems at several locations in the U.S. have proven dangerous because firefighters must let the units burn for an extended time period.
As proposed, North Castle’s proposed text amendment would prevent larger BESS facilities with a capacity of greater than 80 kilowatt hours within all residential and industrial zones and systems of all sizes in Armonk’s Central Business zone and the town’s General Business zone, according to comments received last month from the Westchester County Planning Department.
Type 3 units, considered to be less than 80 kilowatt hours, would be allowed to be used in residences.
Councilman Saleem Hussain said he didn’t want to make something potentially illegal that could help residents since there are homes that can currently store more than 80 kilowatt hours.
“I don’t want to be limiting things that are actually good and I definitely don’t want to be limiting this where residents are making thoughtful decisions and we’re just like limiting that use,” Hussain said.
Attorney Douglas Warden, who represents Catalyze Energy, a company that proposed a BESS not far from Westchester County Airport more than a year ago before the Town Board decided against taking action, urged officials to consider a moratorium for a reasonable time period that would give the board the opportunity to devise parameters regulating the use.
Warden pointed to Mount Kisco, which was scheduled to open a public hearing on a moratorium Monday night, as a municipality taking a reasonable approach. Last month, the towns of Carmel and Kent in Putnam County approved BESS moratoriums.
However, Supervisor Joseph Rende said the safety issue is critical for the town because of its volunteer fire department, would could have serious implications. There is also finite access to water in certain areas of North Castle.
“This could be devastating to a town like ours,” Rende said.
Warden countered the safety issue by pointing out that the town’s consultant concluded that BESS systems are operated safely. He also mentioned that the state’s Public Service Commission guidelines were updated in June to describe how the systems can be safely used.
“In other words, Albany’s been working on this and they’ve provided some safety recommendations as to how to move forward, and the town’s own third-party engineer has approved two different kinds of technology, which they deem safe,” Warden said.
The board closed the public hearing on the proposed law but did not mention when the issue may be discussed again.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
