ANSONIA – The Ansonia Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Aug. 12 to give $1,111.11 in property tax credits to residents on the hilltop who live near solar farms under construction on Benz Street and Hill Street.
The credit affects 36 homeowners who own houses at nearby addresses on Benz Street, Hill Street, Shortell Drive, White Oak Road and Myrtle Avenue. Each homeowner will receive $1,111.11 in property tax credits, according to statements and a list shared at the Aldermen meeting.
The money comes from a settlement agreement signed between the developer and the city in 2023. The city received a $40,000 payment last month, according to corporation counsel John Marini.
“This is payments to compensate for disruption that the project, approved by the (Connecticut state) siting council, has caused,” Marini said at the Aldermen meeting.
Marini said the decision to distribute the money in the form of tax credits – as opposed to direct payments that were discussed last year – was made in consultation with officials from the city’s finance department.
Click here and go to page 131 of the PDF to see if you’re on the list of homeowners receiving tax credits.
Dennis Conway, who lives on Benz Street and is on the list, opposes the development. He told The Valley Indy that the developer has caused numerous issues in the neighborhood, including washouts after rain and unsightly construction.
Conway said money won’t solve the problem. He said the city should make the developer take care of their property.
“The town, they have to go along with it, but if they’re going along with it, help do something to maintain it and keep it nice,” Conway said.
He said that boulders and rocks have been strewn all over the place after a recent round of construction.
“I don’t care about the money. I don’t care about the eleven hundred dollars,” Conway said. “Just keep it maintained. Clean it up.”
Allco Renewable Energy, based in New Haven, is overseeing the developments on Benz Street and Hill Street through a number of subsidiaries and affiliates. Allco president Thomas Melone told The Valley Indy that he hasn’t heard recent complaints from neighbors.
“I have received no reports of alleged damage to property by construction work on Benz Street,” Melone wrote in an email.
City officials first announced that they would distribute money to neighbors in February 2024. However, a series of disputes between Mayor David Cassetti’s administration and Allco led to more than a year of delays after that announcement.
Background
The payment comes after Cassetti’s administration and Allco wrestled for five years in a complicated legal dispute over the developer’s plans to build two solar farm developments on Benz Street and Hill Street.
Here is a timeline of that dispute.
April 2019: PLH Vineyard Sky LLC (shown in city land records as ‘PLH LLC’), a real estate company connected to Allco, purchased 12.7 acres of mostly undeveloped land at 31 Benz Street for $341,249.
February 2020: Windham Solar LLC, a subsidiary of Allco, petitioned the Connecticut State Siting Council for permission to build a solar facility on Benz Street.
March 2021: The siting council rejected Windham Solar’s petition after more than a year of proceedings.
April 2021: Windham Solar appealed the siting council’s ruling, saying that it had been “sandbagged” by Ansonia city officials. The City of Ansonia filed paperwork opposing Windham Solar’s appeal.
June 16, 2021: Vineyard Sky Farms Corporation, another Allco-connected company, purchased 16.6 acres of undeveloped land at 135 Hill St., directly bordering the Benz Street address, for $150,000.
June 21, 2021: The siting council granted approval for the development on Benz Street.
June 2023: PLH Vineyard Sky sued the City of Ansonia in federal court, alleging that city officials “stonewalled” the Benz Street solar development that had been approved two years prior.
September 2023: The lawsuit between PLH Vineyard Sky and Ansonia was settled through a mediation agreement, though it wasn’t shared with the public for five months. The terms of the agreement included a $40,000 payment from the company to the city, in exchange for the city supporting projects on Benz Street and Hill Street.
February 2024: The mediation agreement, and plans to split the $40,000 among neighbors, were made public at a Board of Aldermen meeting. The city had not received the money yet.
October 2024: The Ansonia Planning & Zoning Commission rejected a site plan application from Vineyard Sky Farms Corporation to build an additional solar farm on Hill Street, citing a lack of relevant zoning regulations.
December 2024: Allco attorney Michael Melone, speaking on behalf of Vineyard Sky Farms Corp., asked the zoning board of appeals to overturn the P&Z’s October decision. The ZBA denied the appeal.
January 2025: Vineyard Sky Farms Corp. and Hill Street Solar LLC sued the zoning board of appeals over its denial of the appeal.
July 2025: Vineyard Sky Farms Corp. and the city settled the Hill Street lawsuit. Allco paid the city the $40,000 that had been agreed upon in 2023, and Mayor David Cassetti signed a letter supporting the Hill Street development. Windham Solar LLC petitioned the state siting council to approve the Hill Street development.
January 2026: Deadline for the siting council to issue a final decision on the Hill Street development.