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Blair County Planning Commission members Thursday gave a favorable review to plans to construct a solar facility along Hileman Hollow Road in Greenfield Township.
The BL Diamond LLC Solar Facility project calls for the development of a 16.3 megawatt alternating current utility-scale solar facility interconnected to a Penelec/First Energy transmission line and electrical substation.
The facility will be developed, owned and operated by Ampliform on approximately 128 acres of a 227-acre leased land area. The proposed facility projects a 2025 completion and a 30-year operating life, said regional planner MacKenzie Caron.
In addition to the proposed photovoltaic panels, various appurtenant structures, stormwater management controls, transmission lines and access roads will also be constructed, Caron said.
Access to the site will be primarily through existing gravel access roads off Hileman Hollow Road, with new access roads to be constructed that will branch off from the existing access roads.
No formal parking areas are proposed at the solar facility since it will not be accessed by the public.
The developer specifies that thermal impacts from the installation of this solar facility will be minimized on site through a number of restorative practices such as improving existing soils, promoting meadow vegetation and installing roadside channels in order to convey the water to a number of infiltration basins on site, Caron said.
Caron recommended the developer review Greenfield Township's solar ordinance adopted in July 2023 to ensure the project is designed in accordance with that ordinance.