Ligonier Township proposed solar panel farm gets planners' OK

The question of whether a three-megawatt solar power array should be built on farmland about a mile from Ligonier Valley High School goes to the Ligonier Township supervisors now that a planning panel Thursday recommended its approval.

The Ligonier Township Planning Commission recommended that the supervisors approve Chicago-based SunVest Solar LLC’s proposed 37-acre solar power farm as a conditional use on Michael Becer’s farm at 111 Springer Road.

The installation of a solar power facility is a permitted use in land zoned for agriculture, said Daniel Hudock, planning commission solicitor.

The vote was 3 to 1, with one abstention and one member absent.

Commission members Michael McCalpin, Chris Hefner and Daniel Weimer voted to recommend approval, while Martin Knizner opposed it.

Barbara Nalle, commission chairwoman, abstained from voting, saying “I just feel overloaded with information.” Thomas Naugle was absent.

If the plans for the solar power farm meet the municipality’s codes, that is what matters, Hefner said. The planning commission is not permitted to add restrictions to kill the plan, he said.

“We want to make sure we are benefiting the health and welfare of the Ligonier Valley,” Nalle said before abstaining from the vote.

Knizner said after the meeting he understands that if SunVest meets the township’s requirements for the conditional use of the farmland, the project would be approved.

But, Knizner said, he did not move to the Ligonier Valley to have solar power farms or windmills or coal mines.

Two township supervisors, John Beaufort and Stephanie Verna, were at the meeting. Beaufort said after the meeting that he learned more about the project. He said he is keeping an open mind on the issue.

Special supervisors meeting planned

Beaufort, Verna and the other three supervisors scheduled a special session at 7 p.m. Sept. 22 to hear SunVest’s proposal for the project.

The board will hold its regularly scheduled meeting at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 23, during which they could vote on approving the conditional use for solar power array on land zoned for agriculture use. The company still would have to win approval of a detailed site plan.

SunVest, a national company, has extended a five-year lease for about 37 acres of Becer’s 137-acre farm, but the solar power system would cover only about 18 acres, said Bill French, regional manager for SunVest.

The site would be protected by an 8-foot-high fence, similar to a deer fence, to keep large animals from the solar power facility, French said. The panels would be about 10 feet tall and set back about 100 feet from the property line.

The panels would be on steel racks that would allow them to track the sun, French said. A study projected there would be no glare impacting neighboring properties.

The power generated by the proposed solar farm would be sold to FirstEnergy Corp., parent company of West Penn Power in Greensburg.

Three megawatts of power from the panels would be enough to power 450 homes.

SunVest is the first solar power company to seek approval for such a facility in Ligonier Township, officials said. The township approved an ordinance in July 2024 governing solar facilities. French described the township’s ordinance as “pretty strong” and said it includes requirements for stormwater management, which the company has not encountered.

SunVest has projects in 18 states but none in Pennsylvania, French said. He is working on possible projects in Wharton Township and Fayette County and one near Erie.

The company made the connection to Becer when it sent a mailing about six years ago, seeking interested landowners to host a solar power facility, French said.

Opposition raised

The most impassioned opposition to the project came from Thomas Becer, a cousin and neighbor of Michael Becer, who did not make a public comment.

“It will probably make my home unlivable. The property will essentially be worthless,” because of the view of the solar panels, Thomas Becer said.

Thomas Becer claimed the proposed site is a poor location for a solar power farm because it would be between the Laurel Mountain and Chestnut Ridge and in a secondary valley surrounded by high trees.

He said the area gets only four or five months of ideal solar radiation.

“I think there is a better way to do it,” Thomas Becer said.

The Loyalhanna Watershed Association, a nonprofit that seeks to protect and conserve the watershed that runs through the Ligonier Valley, stated in a submitted letter from Executive Director Susan Huba that it is concerned about the possible impact of erosion and watershed contamination.

Jan Milburn said she is not opposed to the proposed solar power farm.

“We just want it to be done right,” Milburn said.