Judge orders Taylor Zoning Hearing Board to approve solar farm near Ransom Road

FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·4 min read

A Lackawanna County judge ordered the Taylor Borough Zoning Hearing Board to approve a 17,000-plus-panel solar farm.

Judge James Gibbons ruled Thursday that the zoning hearing board abused its discretion when it denied a special exception sought by Massachusetts-based ECA Solar to build a 25-acre solar farm on a 118-plus-acre parcel in a conservation zone along Ransom Road, or Snake Road, and the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Despite getting its zoning approval, ECA Solar, operating as Taylor Energy Initiative LLC and Taylor Energy Initiative Phase II LLC, will still need land development approval from Taylor’s planning commission, which is a standard step in the approval process.

Once complete, the solar farm will export its power to PPL, where it will be available to local users, according to the project’s zoning application.

Last year, ECA Solar appealed a similar denial in Scranton after the city’s zoning hearing board rejected its proposal to build 12,000 solar panels on a 73-acre tract on West Mountain. However, the solar firm withdrew that appeal last month.

Attorney David E. Schwager, who represented Taylor Energy Initiative in the appeal, did not have a timeline for the project Friday afternoon.

Attempts to reach zoning hearing board solicitor Daniel Penetar Jr. were unsuccessful Friday.

The solar farm would be at what was once the Taylor Borough Dump — a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency superfund site.

Scranton used the former underground and strip mine as a municipal dump from 1964 to 1968, according to the EPA. There were 1,200 drums of hazardous chemicals and heavy metals illegally dumped there, contaminating air, soil, surface water, sediment and groundwater, according to the agency. Remediation work between 1983 and 1988 included removing the drums, collecting and treating contaminated water in ponds, digging up contaminated soil and adding a soil cover, according to the EPA.

Development options are limited on the land because projects cannot disturb a soil liner added during the remediation.

ECA Solar initially went before the Taylor Borough Zoning Hearing Board on March 20, 2023, in hopes of receiving a special exception to build approximately 17,160 solar panels, along with two 10-foot by 20-foot concrete pads for electrical equipment, 12 new utility poles and an 8-foot-tall fence surrounding the solar array and equipment.

The zoning hearing board rejected the request with a 4-0 vote. A written decision accompanying the denial referenced testimony from 10 speakers during the hearing, five of whom objected to the solar farm and five of whom raised questions or concerns.

Objections included traffic during construction, glare from solar panels and proximity to houses, as well as issues with water runoff and aesthetics if the developer cuts down trees.

At the conclusion of its written denial, the board listed the requirements needed to grant a special exception but did not specifically explain whether the proposed solar farm met the requirements.

ECA Solar appealed the denial April 5, 2023, sending the matter to Lackawanna County Court.

In a Feb. 2 ruling, Gibbons vacated the rejection and remanded the decision back to the zoning hearing board, citing a lack of evidence from the board to support its denial.

“We cannot conclude that substantial evidence exists to support the board’s decision because the board did not identify the evidence upon which it relied,” Gibbons wrote.

The board reconvened March 18 to comply with the judge’s order, asking three current and former members to explain their votes. According to Thursday’s filing:

Cindy Bellucci said her decision was partially made from residents’ concerns over increased water runoff, wind tunnels and increased temperatures affecting the conservation area. She also thought it could potentially impact the protected wetlands on the property and said there was no definitive placement of where the solar panels would go.

George Aulisio Jr. cited the borough’s zoning ordinance and public testimony, saying he did not feel it could be protected for the public. He referenced “public safety, health and welfare” and “individual adjoining property values.”

David Wilce said there was not enough information given on how much of the superfund site would be disturbed when anchoring the framework for the panels.

The added explanation did not sway the court.

“Despite remand, we reach the same result that the board’s findings and conclusions regarding Taylor Energy’s requested variances are not supported by substantial evidence,” Gibbons wrote in a memorandum accompanying his order. “The board therefore abused its discretion in denying the special exception and we will, therefore, direct that the applications for special exceptions to install a solar panel energy array be granted.”