Blair County Planning Commission members Thursday expressed some concerns about plans for what is called the Blair Frito Solar Project in Antis Township.

The project site is northeast of Altoona near Pinecroft. The project parcel fronts on Sandbank Road and is just west of East Pleasant Valley Boulevard.

SRI Captura Sage Holdco LLC and four co-applicants are planning a principal solar energy system consisting of solar arrays and associated driveways, electrical collection lines, fencing and signage. There will be three separate solar arrays, each enclosed by a fence.

Each array will have 4,750 ground-mounted panels (a total of 14,250 panels) up to 12 feet in height generating 2 megawatts (total of 6 megawatts of electricity). Interconnecting wire will be placed underground as much as possible.

Generated electricity will be transferred to existing First Energy Pennsylvania Electric Company infrastructure. The total size of the project parcel is 72 acres and the area of coverage of the solar arrays is 10 acres.

Antis Township has a current and comprehensive set of solar development regulations. The applicant provided a narrative, set of detailed plans and additional technical documents addressing glare, stormwater/erosion and sedimentation, emergency response, wetlands, public utility connection confirmation and decommissioning, all of which describe how the project complies with applicable regulations, said consultant Jeff Raykes of Stuart Group Consulting, Indiana, who reviewed the proposed plans.

Provided the township, with the aid of its professional engineer, conducts a thorough compliance review and the application meets ordinance requirements, the project should be able to proceed in a manner minimally impacting the community and consistent with the Alleghenies Ahead comprehensive plan, Raykes said.

Raykes did point out a concern. He said information provided to Blair Planning does not fully describe site access. Plan drawings show proposed driveways connecting to Frito Lane which connects to Sandbank Road to the west and East Pleasant Valley Boulevard to the east.

Frito Lane is indicated as a private lane and there is no indication who owns and maintains the lane, or who has the right of access to it. Plan drawings do not indicate the adequacy of its existing construction for traffic accessing the solar arrays.

Member Nick Ardizzone is concerned about a bridge on Frito Lane.

“That bridge may not be capable of handling any significant loads and there could be some legal issues with the right-of-way; they may have to make the private road a public road,” Ardizonne said.

He also said stormwater management at the site may be an issue.

Planning Director David McFarland said the plan should be resubmitted to the planning commission once these other concerns are addressed.

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.