Garrett Opposes Proposed Solar Farm Project In Hamden

HAMDEN, CT — Mayor Lauren Garrett is opposing a proposed solar project that would be built on Denslow Hill Road in Hamden.

The proposal calls for a 1.5-megawatt solar farm to be built on about 8 acres of undeveloped, wooded land on Denslow Hill Road, according to the New Haven Register.

The Register reported that West Haven, as an environmental justice community, is projected to save more than $25,000 a year in energy costs over a 20-year span from the solar farm through a clean energy program.

Garrett sent a letter on Friday to the Connecticut Siting Council, which must approve the project, in opposition to the proposed solar farm.

“Addressing climate change by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels is vitally important,” Garrett wrote in a post on Facebook. “It is also important to do everything we can to preserve forest land. This proposed solar project will deforest nearly 8 acres of land. We should prioritize placing solar installations on rooftops and over parking lots and brown fields while preserving precious forest.”

In the letter, Garrett wrote that the 10 acres of trees at 410 Denslow Hill Rd. “absorb groundwater that would flow to the lower elevation and into the flood plain and dam in need of repairs.”

“Clear-cutting 8 acres of trees will increase the water flowing into an already overloaded dam,” she wrote.

Garrett requested a meeting with the Siting Council and relevant Hamden town departments to discuss the project.

Read the full letter below: