YMCA Wants Solar Panels, Residents Don't Want to See Them

The Somerset Valley YMCA is looking to put solar panels on top of car ports at its Bridgewater location—but nearby residents are concerned about the affects the sight of them will have on their neighborhoods.

The YMCA came before the zoning board Oct. 4 to ask for a variance to allow for the solar array on the property that is considered to be in a residential zone. Solar panels are only allowed on rooftops in residential zones in Bridgewater, and the YMCA was looking for a variance to be allowed to place them on top of car ports in the parking lot.

“It is usually not allowed to be in the front yard area, but we are proposing to put it there because that’s the only place we have,” said Paul Kieltyka, chief executive officer of the Somerset Valley YMCA. “We cannot do a roof array because of the unusual slope of the roof, so the best option is the parking lot.”

According to Kieltyka, the YMCA has already received zoning board approval to build a car port for solar panels at the facility in Hillsborough, and will be placing panels on the roof at the Somerville facility.

Placing them at the Bridgewater building is the last step in the puzzle, Kieltyka said.

The decision to move forward with solar panels, Kieltyka said, is for conserving energy inside the facility. With a plan for 15-year solar panels, there is an estimated savings of more than $1 million in the three facilities combined, he said.

“We will save the money and take what we will save on utilities, and use that to help the facilities,” he said.

“The aquatic facility uses a lot of heat with indoor temperatures, showers going constantly and pool water,” he added. “There is a high energy consumption. We want the solar panel canopies in the parking lot that will offset the costs of energy.”

Kieltyka said he did not know how much money will specifically be saved in each individual facility.

“But we will be giving the money we save back to the community by offering more services in the community,” he said, adding that the solar panels will meet about 85 percent of the YMCA’s energy demands.

The structure itself will be 17 feet at its highest point, and 10 feet at its lowest, according to engineer Michael Ford. It will be 8.5 feet off the ground to provide for maneuverability of vehicles, he said, with lights underneath the canopy at about 13 feet in height.

Ford said that the YMCA property is surrounded on the east by a densely wooded area where the Peters Brook traverses the site, by the Green Knoll Golf Course on another side and by Garretson Road and the . But the biggest concerns came from residents of a residential townhouse community on the north side of the building.

According to Ford, township ordinance requires a 75-foot buffer between a car port with solar panels and residents—but that is not provided for near the residential community.

Instead, Ford said, the parking lot currently has vegetation between the property line and a fence.

“What the applicant would do is supplement that landscaping with evergreen plantings, subject to the review of the township planner,” he said.

Ford emphasized that they would work with Scarlett Doyle, township planner, to determine what kind of landscaping would be required, but members of the zoning board said they were concerned that plans were not already included in the application.

Board member Filipe Pedroso said he would like to see a specific plan for handling the landscaping.

Board attorney Lawrence Vastola said he does not believe the application should move forward without a landscaping plan, but that it is ultimately up to the board.

“I think a landscape plan should go before the board to have them determine if it’s right,” he said. “This is a question of providing an impervious buffer adjacent to the fence that you don’t own. I think it’s something the board should rule on rather than passing it off to the planner.”

The other concern from both board members and residents was that of lighting on the car port, and how that would affect the residents. Ford said the lighting would be similar to that of light poles in parking lots, and that there would be no glare toward the townhouses from the lights.

“And the panels face in the opposite direction, so there is no glare,” he said. “It’s like the sun hitting pavement, there’s no glare off the solar panels because they’re not reflective."

Richard Fortin, who coordinated the development of the solar panel project, said this is a roughly 276-kilowatt project, generating about 85 percent of the onsite usage.

“The YMCA will be buying the energy from us, and we become the utility,” he said. “No power will be sold on the grid, this is a retail project, buying it at a reduced rate."

Fortin said the car port will not obstruct parking, as no spaces will be lost.

Board member Donald Sweeney asked why exactly the panels could not be mounted on the roof, and Fortin reiterated that it is because of the slope of it.

“The roof is east to west, and we could only do the panels on the northeast side of the roof,” he said. “We couldn’t do anything on the other side of it because of the shadows. The panels wouldn’t get the sun there and it wouldn’t be economically feasible.”

But Pedroso was concerned about what residents would see from the condominiums nearest the YMCA, as well as the view of the panels and car port from Garretson Road. Instead, he said, maybe there is a way the panels could be built on the grass.

“You have a lot of property, maybe instead of putting them overhanging the cars, you could put them on the grass,” he said.

But Fortin said it is less costly to do the panels in the lot where no site work would be needed. On the lawn, he said, trees would have to be cleared and site work would need to be done to create a flat surface.

And Kieltyka said using the grassy areas for the panels would eliminate the YMCA’s ability to hold some programs, which are held on all open areas of the property.

“There are environmental benefits too, essentially absorbing energy that would otherwise be absorbed into the parking lot and providing shading for the cars from the elements,” Fortin said. “We would have to clear woods and lots of grass, plus the fields in the back are for recreational activities, as is everything to the north and east.”

“[The panels on the parking lot] is the most obvious and economically beneficial place,” he added.

But Pedroso was not convinced.

“If some panels were placed on the lower right of the grassy area, you can probably fit most of them there and on the grass, you won’t even be cutting any trees down,” he said. “You have the side of the property and back to use for activities.”

“Things could be adjusted, and you can obstruct the car ports with landscaping,” he added.

But Fortin said the proposal is not to hide the panels from the street, but from the residential townhouses, which the applicant is planning to do.

“We would walk away from the project before we move it to the grass,” he said.

With residents unable to ask questions of Fortin before the meeting ending time of 10:30 p.m., the hearing was continued to Oct. 18.

Sweeney requested that the applicant bring a prepared landscaping plan to the next meeting for shielding the car port from the residents to the north of the property.