The Time is Now to Fight Proposed Mount Kisco Solar Farm

August 17, 2021 Examiner Media Mount Kisco

Once again, a proposal to install and operate a Tier 3 solar farm on Conservation District-zoned property, adjacent to residential homes and a nature sanctuary, has been submitted to the Mount Kisco Planning Board. The initial proposal, submitted in 2020, was reviewed under a cloud of ethical violations, withdrawn this past April and resubmitted with only minor changes. If this application is approved, it will result in the cutting down of nearly 700 trees, destroying the natural habitat and the home of various species of wildlife, damaging the ecology of the area and altering the natural beauty of the last plot of undeveloped land in Mount Kisco.

Is this what we want for Mount Kisco? This location, on the Mount Kisco-Bedford border at 180 S. Bedford Rd., will essentially change this Conservation District property to a commercial zone, right in the middle of a residential neighborhood and adjoining the Marsh Sanctuary.

This is not a “not-in-my-backyard” defense. I wouldn’t want it in anyone’s backyard. Solar energy has many advantages, but it also has disadvantages, and potential risks, and belongs in commercial and business areas, or near highways or landfills. And the clear-cutting of almost 700 trees in the name of “going green” is hypocritical. Many alternative sites for solar development have been identified that do not require cutting trees.

The property is privately-owned by an LLC whose owner does not live in Mount Kisco or even in New York. He plans to not only lease a portion of this property to this solar company, but another segment of the land as well for the installation of a cell tower. What’s next?

Many of us who oppose the development of this property strongly suggest that the Village Board investigate options to acquire the property, perhaps with the help of county and state funds.

Help us stop this senseless proposal. The next public hearing on this matter is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Mount Kisco Village Hall at 104 Main St. and on Zoom. For Zoom info, refer to the town’s website at www.mountkiscony.gov. Click on government/agendas&minutes/planning board. Written comments can be sent to planning@mountkiscony.gov. Thank you.

Maryann Tarnok
Mount Kisco