By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
A public meeting on the Silver Maple solar project in Zeeland and Jamestown townships will take place tonight at the Dozeman Center inside the Drenthe Grove Park.
The meeting is scheduled to get underway at 5:30 p.m., and is the first of two new public meetings that have been scheduled by the project developer.
The second meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Patmos Library, 2445 Riley St. in Jamestown Township.
Silver Maple PV, LLC, an entity of German-based energy giant RWE, scheduled the new meetings last month. It had held three public meetings, two in Zeeland Township and one in Jamestown, in March, prior to submitting its application seeking approval of the 200-megawatt Silver Maple project with the Michigan Public Service Commission.
So why the new meetings? RWE representatives say it’s in response to a ruling earlier this year by the Michigan Court of Appeals, where justices ruled that all governmental units where an energy facility is proposed, including counties, may seek status as intervenor opposing a project before the MPSC.
The commission had issued an order two years ago saying that only local governmental units with zoning jurisdiction, such as townships, could qualify as affected local units.
“Following the Michigan Court of Appeals ruling in May that broadened the definition of an Affected Local Unit to potentially include Ottawa County, RWE paused the permit application for Silver Maple Solar to conduct additional stakeholder outreach,” RWE spokeswoman Amy LeFebre wrote in an email to the Zeeland Record.
RWE has secured leases on 52 parcels totaling 1,914 acres of farmland, about 60 percent of it in Zeeland Township. The company’s application says the project would disturb 1,431 acres of land and be built on 1,127 acres of fenced-in property.
The Silver Maple application was suspended in July at RWE’s request, and remains suspended at this time.
Comments at earlier public meetings showed heavy opposition to the Silver Maple project, out of concerns that it would negatively impact local agriculture and rural character.
Zeeland Record
A public meeting on the Silver Maple solar project in Zeeland and Jamestown townships will take place tonight at the Dozeman Center inside the Drenthe Grove Park.
The meeting is scheduled to get underway at 5:30 p.m., and is the first of two new public meetings that have been scheduled by the project developer.
The second meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Patmos Library, 2445 Riley St. in Jamestown Township.
Silver Maple PV, LLC, an entity of German-based energy giant RWE, scheduled the new meetings last month. It had held three public meetings, two in Zeeland Township and one in Jamestown, in March, prior to submitting its application seeking approval of the 200-megawatt Silver Maple project with the Michigan Public Service Commission.
So why the new meetings? RWE representatives say it’s in response to a ruling earlier this year by the Michigan Court of Appeals, where justices ruled that all governmental units where an energy facility is proposed, including counties, may seek status as intervenor opposing a project before the MPSC.
The commission had issued an order two years ago saying that only local governmental units with zoning jurisdiction, such as townships, could qualify as affected local units.
“Following the Michigan Court of Appeals ruling in May that broadened the definition of an Affected Local Unit to potentially include Ottawa County, RWE paused the permit application for Silver Maple Solar to conduct additional stakeholder outreach,” RWE spokeswoman Amy LeFebre wrote in an email to the Zeeland Record.
RWE has secured leases on 52 parcels totaling 1,914 acres of farmland, about 60 percent of it in Zeeland Township. The company’s application says the project would disturb 1,431 acres of land and be built on 1,127 acres of fenced-in property.
The Silver Maple application was suspended in July at RWE’s request, and remains suspended at this time.
Comments at earlier public meetings showed heavy opposition to the Silver Maple project, out of concerns that it would negatively impact local agriculture and rural character.
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