Solar Regulations Introduced, On To Land Use Board for Review

The Bedminster Township Committee introduced an ordinance Monday to amend the rules regarding solar power installations, and then laid out a plan aimed at generating a robust debate.

If all goes according to plan, a public hearing on the ordinance could be held April 1.

The ordinance amends the township’s land use rules to accommodate roof-mounted and ground-mounted solar power installations, as well as those mounted on parking lot canopies across the various sections of the township, from the high density housing areas to the rural residential zones, commercial zones and farmland zones.

The ordinance is being considered while a potential application for an 11-megawatt, 49,000-panel solar installation at the Kirby Farms on Country Club Road in awaiting action by the Land Use Board.

The power generated by the array would power a Route 202/206 facility operated by Sanofi-Aventis, the pharmaceutical company, that is in adjacent Bridgewater.

Hearings on the application by developer KDC Solar of Bedminster have been delayed because the application was deemed incomplete in early January. A new date for the application is expected to be set at Thursday's Land Use Board meeting.

Mayor Steven Parker said the introduction of the ordinance would allow the committee to establish a schedule that included an open discussion and, later, a public hearing when the ordinance will be facing a vote for approval.

He suggested that the committee set the public hearing for April 1.

Establishing this date would allow an open discussion among the committee members on March 18, as well as allowing for some public comment prior to a vote on the ordinance.

Committeeman Lawrence Jacobs agreed.

“I’d rather we hear from the public before we vote,” he said.

Committeeman Bernard Pace said he saw several issues in the draft ordinance that he wants to discuss at that meeting.

Resident Danielle Terraglia—speaking for a handful of residents, dubbed Preserve Bedminster, and who are opposed to the Kirby Farms application—said it is important to preserve the rural quality of the township.

Parker said the public discussion on the ordinance would be welcomed, but said that it would be limited to the ordinance only, and not the pending application.

Township attorney Joseph Sordillo said that it would improper for the township committee to entertain questions related to the application because, legally, the committee is the review panel for any Land Use Board decision that is appealed.

As for the plan for upcoming committee meetings with regard to the ordinance, Parker said holding the public hearing on March 18 would crowd an already busy meeting agenda since the 2013 budget will be introduced at that meeting. Also complicating the schedule is a review by the Land Use Board.

Following introduction, the ordinance must be sent to the Land Use Board for review. There, the members must examine the draft ordinance for compliance with the township’s master plan, and can also suggest either substantive or minor changes to the ordinance.

After the Land Use Board completes its review, the ordinance is returned to the township committee for final action.

If the suggested changes are substantive, Sordillo said, the township committee has to basically start over.

The Land use Board is scheduled to meet March 7 and 14.