The town's comments regarding the proposal noted that the installation
would be out of character for the area, would occupy currently open and
agricultural land and would be larger than any existing structure at the
Lareau Farm which hosts American Flatbread.
"Due to the size of the project and its inharmonious appearance in this
particular location, it seems that the aesthetic impact could be
materially reduced by appropriate sized trees and we request due
consideration be given to such screening. Since there are hundreds of
feet of open land between Route 100 which is on the eastern side of the
project and the woods on the western side, there appears to be adequate
space to locate a solar installation as well as appropriate screening,"
wrote Waitsfield Planning Commission chair Steve Shea in a letter to the
PSB.
In response to the town's comments, William King from AllEarth Renewables (the company that will install the system) wrote:
"With regards to the comment that the size of the project is out of
character and 'not harmonious' with the property and the installation
occupies a significant portion of the open land. The project is sized to
meet to the electricity needs of American Flatbread. The proposed
installation will supply roughly 80 percent of the electricity needs for
American Flatbread for the foreseeable future. In addition, American
Flatbread intends to implement efficiency measures to reduce their
electricity needs to equal the capacity of the solar trackers. Their
goal is to have the solar trackers supply 100 percent of the electricity
needed to operate the business. The installation is going to be sited
and configured to minimize the footprint and to be visually and
aesthetically appealing. The installation will require approximately
less than one acre of a five-acre field and will be sited to the far
north end of the field to reduce the visual impact going south on Route
100. The proposed site is the only location on the property that is
suitable for an AllSun Tracker installation and is an unutilized field
that is hayed less than twice per year."
There are two other Waitsfield solar applications currently before the
PSB. One is from Bill Parker to install 26 solar trackers at Fiddler's
Green and the other is to install six pole-mounted photovoltaic arrays
on a two-acre lot at Chris and Leslie Badger's Long Road property.
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