Ansonia Government, Solar Project Developer Hit Impasse

Allco's Michael Melone addresses the Zoning Board of Appeals via Zoom on Dec. 23, 2024.

ANSONIA – The members of the Ansonia Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) voted Dec. 23 to deny an appeal of a site plan application for a solar farm on Hill Street.

The denial is the latest salvo in a long-running battle between Allco Renewable Energy and the city.

Solar farms generate electricity from the sun.

Vineyard Sky Farms Corp, an Allco company, submitted plans to build a 0.99-megawatt facility at 135 Hill St. 

The site plan was first rejected by the members of the Ansonia Planning and Zoning Commission in October. The appeal of that decision was then denied by the ZBA in December.

The Hill Street address is next to a 1.99 megawatt solar farm the company is building at 31 Benz St.

The Benz Street application was opposed by the city, but the Connecticut Siting Council, which has jurisdiction over solar farms, approved it.

Allco took the city to court in 2023, saying the city was setting up hurdles to block development after the citing council gave a green light.

The two sides reached an agreement in 2024. The agreement said the city would allow both the Benz Street project and the Hill Street project to proceed and that the company would pay $15,000 a year to the city in lieu of taxes. 

The company also agreed to pay $40,000 to the city, which the city intended to divide among the neighbors to the developments. That has not happened due to the ongoing dispute.

The Hill Street portion of the solar farm project is a sticking point. Company officials said that because it is a small project it does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Connecticut Siting Council.

They said the locals have to approve it, as spelled out in the legal agreement. 

However, in October, members of the city’s P&Z rejected the Hill Street application on a technicality. They said the city’s land use regulations identify solar farms as an accessory use on a property, not a primary use. 

The solar farm under construction on Benz Street is an accessory use because there’s a house on the property, while the Hill Street property is all woods.

Allco company officials have argued that the Hill Street project is specifically mentioned in the legal agreement the city signed.

Both sides have been talking about going back to court.

At the December ZBA meeting, Allco’s Michael Melone said the site plan should be approved under the terms of the 2023 settlement. He said the city could use whatever language it likes to approve the project, but that ultimately they are required to approve it.

Melone said the project meets the state definition of a ​“public utility installation” and that the city could use that language to approve it under its zoning regulations.

“We’re not wedded to this particular method of getting the project approved. We’re open to other ideas, but again, going back to the settlement agreement, there is an agreement by the town to approve it one way or the other,” Melone said.

Members of the board went back and forth with Melone over whether the project meets the definition of ​“public utility installation.” 

Melone said he has repeatedly asked for the city’s corporation counsel, John Marini, to provide a legal opinion on whether or not the project meets the definition. 

ZBA Chairman Natale Giaimo said that, in absence of an opinion from Marini, the city would likely approve a site plan if it had approval from the state Siting Council.

Melone said the state can’t provide input on the project since it doesn’t fall under their jurisdiction.

However, Marini told The Valley Indy in December the settlement was written with the understanding that Allco would seek approval from the state for the project. He wrote that the settlement doesn’t require the city to approve anything that hasn’t gone through the state.

The matter could be returning to court soon.

“The next step is to file an appeal of the ZBA decision to the Superior Court unless the city decides to actually adhere to the terms of the settlement agreement and issue the necessary permit,” Michael Melone told The Valley Indy on Jan. 7.

The required legal notice from the December ZBA meeting states that the members denied an ​“appeal for a denial of a site plan from the Ansonia Planning & Zoning Commission.”

In Connecticut, appeals to decisions made by planning and zoning commissions usually go to Superior Court, not the local zoning board of appeals.

Usually members of a ZBA decide on whether to issue a variance for a given project – that is, allow something that might not normally be allowed under the land use rules. The applicant has to show a hardship – such as the property can’t be used in any other way because of the land use rules. Click here for more.

However, Allco company officials said that P&Z decisions can be appealed to the ZBA.

Marini, the city’s corporation counsel, said he believed the appeal was based on a zoning official’s decision.

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