Proposed solar array in Penfield faces resistance

The Northrup Road Solar Project, a proposed solar array and surrounding fence in Penfield, is facing unexpected resistance. Residents have raised concerns over noise, impact on property values, and loss of wooded areas.

The proposed solar array will be owned and operated by Northrup Penfield Solar LLC, a company created by GreenSpark Solar to develop the solar project, under a lease agreement with the landowners, Gary and Wendy Smith.

GreenSpark is a Rochester solar energy company responsible for operating and maintaining the solar array after its construction, and for obtaining permits, designing, and building the project. CEO Kevin Schulte says the solar array will generate enough solar energy to power the equivalent of 700 homes. Solar projects like this, he says, can provide “cheap, clean electricity, jobs, income to landowners, and property tax PILOT payments.”

Last month, some Penfield residents launched a petition, asking the town planning board to revise and create safeguards for the project. 

“We oppose Application 25P-005 in its current form because of the serious impacts it would have on privacy, views, noise, and property values for neighboring homeowners. Many of us paid significant lot premiums for the wooded setting and natural buffer this land provides. That would be lost,” wrote Kelley Nolan, a Penfield resident who started the petition.

As of this week, 79 residents had signed the petition. Some of the provisions they are asking for include noise and construction impact mitigation, details on long-term access road use and wildlife disruption, and “consideration of tax relief or community benefit for impacted homeowners.” 

The Smiths believe there is misunderstanding about what the project truly entails. 

“People hear about this project and they think we’re going to put in this huge solar field and cover every part of the land, but we’re using about 20 acres of the 75 (acres) we have,” Gary Smith says. 

Smith’s family has owned the land since the 1940s. Wanting to do something with the vacant land that he wouldn’t be able to work on forever, Gary and his wife, Wendy, approached GreenSpark Solar about installing a solar field. 

“We wanted to find a use for the land, where we can use it without destroying it,” says Gary Smith. “And a solar field is nice because, you know, after 20 years, you get the land back the way it was. All they do is just remove the structures, and the land is still the same as it was.”

The Smiths didn’t want to use their land to develop a housing tract, which was an alternative.

“We really don’t want to turn the land into another housing tract, because we have a bunch of them around here,” Smith says. “That destroys your land forever. They’ll strip the soil, sell it. People are looking into other people’s backyards and windows, versus looking into a buffered solar field.”

Most of the neighbors they’ve talked to support the project, the Smiths say. They also maintain that most of the residents who have signed the petition will not even be in the line of sight of the project because of a large natural buffer of trees and hedges that already exists near the concerned properties. 

GreenSpark Solar has said the plan does not include removing any trees on the western side of the project. It has created a map with aerial and ground views of the project, along with hedgerows surrounding the nearby properties. 

As for some of the other worries listed in the petition, Brooke Mayer, commercial development manager at GreenSpark Solar, says, “We’ve heard a lot of people’s concerns about noise. But there is not really any type of noise impact at these sites. To that point, we are doing a noise study to ensure that we’re measuring the planned equipment against the typical ambient noise level.”  

The Smiths also contend that while there may be an increase in property value and taxes, it will actually be beneficial to Penfield. 

“Our aim is to really be a good neighbor and a good steward of this property for the lifetime of the project,” Schulte says. 

GreenSpark Solar presented the details of the project and answered questions at a June 12 Penfield planning board meeting where residents could also voice their concerns. The project application was picked up again June 26. It has been tabled to allow more time for revisions. The town will revisit the application at the next planning board meeting on Aug. 14. GreenSpark Solar will host a community information session on Aug. 9 at the American Legion on Penfield Road from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The project has been in the works for a few years. When the Smiths initially approached GreenSpark Solar about installing a solar array, the town did not have a sustainability or solar code in place. As the town drafted a detailed solar plan, the project was in moratorium and solar development in Penfield was halted. Mayer says the Northrup Road Solar Project is the first to seek permits from the town after the adoption of the new solar code.

If approved, the project would take about a year to complete, with construction beginning in 2026 and the project being fully operational sometime in 2027. 

Alefiya Presswala is a student at Ithaca College and a member of the Oasis Project’s second cohort. 

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