By KATHERINE MITCHELL
SUNY ALBANY

COLONIE – Residents lodged complaints against the Lisha Solar project during last week’s Planning Board public hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, claiming the array is inappropriate for the neighborhood, encroaches on the Pine Bush Preserve’s integrity, and will irreparably harm endangered wildlife.

Proposed by Lisha Solar LLC and Lisha 2 Solar LLC, affiliates of Eden Renewables, the project, in an earlier iteration, involved the construction of two five-megawatt solar arrays on a 75-acre parcel adjacent to the Albany Pine Bush Preserve on 2772 and 2792 Curry Road.

After community concerns, the developers scaled back the proposal in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, changing the plans to a single solar array.

During the meeting, proponents of the project emphasized its potential for environmental restoration. Eden Renewables has planned to invest $90,000 into the rare wild blue lupine habitat and another $90,000 to improve it, creating what it says will be a pollinator-friendly environment.

Karner Blue Butterflies and wild blue lupine are two endangered species in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve and the protected land around it

“We’re putting in 15 little posts in the ground,” said Eden Renewables co-founder and Lisha Solar Farm sponsor Giovanni Maruca. “That then enables us to restore all of the land underneath and around the panels.”

Save The Pine Bush, a not-for-profit with the mission of protecting Pine Bush land and the surrounding protected land, remained unconvinced that the array would still not pose a threat.

“You wouldn’t put this on a flood plain or tear down a historic building — so why site it in an endangered ecosystem?” said long-time volunteer for Save the Pine Bush, Russel Ziemba.

Lynn Jackson, a Save The Pine Bush member, argued that if solar panels are added, the loss of acreage could cripple Pine Bush’s long-term vision. Though the draft DEIS mentions the Solar Farm’s ability to be decommissioned in 40 years and reverting to an agricultural site, Jackson questioned the DEIS saying, “I didn’t see anything that said what would happen to [the parcel] going back to agriculture. We don’t want it going back to agriculture. This parcel is recommended for preservation.”

In a letter to the board, read out loud during the meeting, resident Mark Kazmierczak described the site as a thriving wildlife area.

“The wildlife we see and the views we’ve enjoyed are incredible,” he wrote. “We wholeheartedly disagree with this proposal.”

The letter also raised concerns about water safety in and around the parcel, noting the area sits atop a 150-square-mile aquifer that supplies local drinking water.

“We have been fortunate to live near this amazing natural preserve of sorts for nearly two decades. It would be heartbreaking to see all of this destroyed in the name of progress or green energy,”’ he wrote.

Neil Glifford, the conservation director of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission, said Eden Renewables has addressed a lot of the issues the commission had with the project, except for what he sees as one key problem.

“The environmental impact statement did a reasonable job addressing issues, but it didn’t address the protection side — how the project influences our ability to preserve this land,” he said.

In next steps, Lisha Solar must respond to concerns raised during the public comment period in a final environmental impact statement. The Zoning Board will then decide on a use variance for the project – the property is zoned for single-family residential use — before it comes before the Planning Board again.

Katherine Mitchell is a UAlbany Journalism student participating in the SUNY Institute for Local News initiative to help community journalism.