Southtowns Record

Planning Board Regular Meeting, Mar 18, 2026 — Minutes

Government
Town of Hamburg
Board
Planning Board
Meeting
Mar 18, 2026
Kind
Minutes
Topics
Zoning and land use, Parks and recreation, Water, sewer and drainage, Energy and data center siting, Budget and taxes

Original document

Same meeting

Text · page 10 of 13

Read the whole document on one page (all 13 pages, each with its own heading)

Town of Hamburg Planning Board Minutes  March 18, 2026

Mr. Van Slyke answered that the project owner essentially will have a contract with a
landscaping company to do the installation and then that contract will also include
maintenance. This is outlined in the operation maintenance plan and the landscape plan
document.

Chair Gronachan also asked the following questions of the Applicant:

  ▪  Who would be the environmental monitor?
  ▪  Who is in charge of making sure that the landscaping takes and grows to height
  and provides protection from this project?
  ▪  Due to the neighbors worrying that their property values will decrease, has there
  been a marketing plan or marketing assessment done to debunk that theory or is
  that accurate?
  ▪  Can the Applicant confirm that the trees shown in the picture that was displayed
  on the TV are not on the project site.
  ▪  What if the company sponsoring this project goes bankrupt? What happens to
  the equipment and all?

Mr. Van Slyke provided the following answers in response to the questions from the
Chair:

  ▪  Typically, they contract with a landscape company that then subcontract out the
  environmental monitoring or have an environmental monitor on staff.
  ▪  The owner of the project is in charge of making sure the landscaping is
  adequate.
  ▪  The theory that property values will decrease is one that they do not find
  accurate. A market assessment or property study has not been done for this
  project, however if it were something the Planning Board would like them to
  provide, they have done it for other projects.
  ▪  That is correct that the trees shown are not on the Project Site, and it should be
  noted that the project does not involve cutting down any trees.
  ▪  Per the Town’s solar ordinance, the Applicant would post the decommissioning
  bond and if the company were to go under, the Town would call that bond and
  decommission the project. If the project does not produce at least 50% capacity
  for at least six months over a one-year period, then it is at the owner’s expense
  to take down all the materials.

Chair Gronachan asked Mr. Roge about the 9 acres that are being used is zoned
residential-agricultural, and what else could the property be used for without a special
use permit.

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