A Google Map showing the area between Benz Street and Shortell Drive.
ANSONIA – Members of the Board of Aldermen voted on Feb. 13 to distribute $40,000 to homeowners near the construction of a solar farm on Benz Street.
The money will come from a settlement which capped off a dispute between the city and homeowners on one side, and the solar farm’s developers, Allco Renewable Energy, on the other.
“It makes the best out of a situation that we, I think, would rather have not gone forward,” city corporation counsel John Marini said to the Aldermen.
The city had been trying to stop development on the site since Allco first proposed the solar farm in 2020. Neighbors protested in a Facebook group called “Ansonia 06401 ~ In The Know” that the project could become an eyesore and reduce the amount of open space in Ansonia.
The land, prior to Allco’s purchase, was undeveloped woods.
But approval for solar projects on private land comes from the state, not the city.
In June of 2021, the CT Siting Council approved the developers’ application. Last year, the developers sued the city, accusing them of “stonewalling” development, which led to last September’s settlement.
Click here for a story about the lawsuit.
At the Aldermen meeting, Marini also touted other parts of the settlement. A portion of the property will be left undeveloped, and the developers will mitigate visual impact by preserving a row of trees and putting up a knotted fence.
The solar project, which is exempt from taxes by state law, will also make annual payments to the city once it achieves operation.
These annual payments will amount to $240,000 over the next twenty years, in addition to a one-time payment of $180,000 upon operation. The developers will pay $12,000 to the city each year after the initial twenty years.
Marini said the $40,000 payment to residents is intended “to mitigate what they’ve had to go through.”
The $40,000 voted on at the BOA will be distributed evenly among impacted households, coming out to about $1,111 per household. Marini said in a call with the Valley Indy that he expects that payment to be disbursed within the next two months. He said that the payment is conditional on the project going forward, but that the city is in contact with the developers and expects that to happen in the coming weeks.
To see if your household is included in the payment, click here. A list of households is on page 24 of the pdf.
