A new, smaller solar project that looks to be constructed in the town of Hanover has been approved for various tax breaks.

During a meeting last month of the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency, board members unanimously approved various resolutions for Hanover II PV, LLC to construct a 4.75 megawatt solar project to be placed at 11064 Hanover Road, Forestville. The solar project is expected to cost $6.5 million to construct.

County IDA officials said the project would create 30 construction jobs and one full-time permanent position.

Ivo Tomchev with RIC Development, discussed the plans with the board in December. He said the property is zoned agricultural and rural residential. They’re hoping to generate enough energy to power 2,500 homes. The parcel site is 168 acres and the project area will use just under 30 acres of land.

Kristine Morabito, county IDA project manager, said the company will enter into a Host Community Agreement with the town directly for payments. This will be a separate agreement from the Payment In Lieu Of Taxes Agreement that the county IDA approved.

Morabito said she has talked to Hanover Town Supervisor Todd Johnson about the development. “He updated me last week that updated information had been provided to the town for review by the developer and they would be considering that for potential approval at a future date. He didn’t know which date they would meet and discuss the review,” she said.

Normally, the county IDA would not finalize tax breaks for a project before any special use permits are issued by the local municipality. However, Morabito said Johnson requested the county IDA go ahead and move forward with the PILOT agreement and the State Environmental Quality Review. Following the environmental review, IDA officials said it was reasonable to conclude the project would not result in any significant adverse environmental impacts.

Attorney Milian Tyler said the tax break agreements are “in the same ballpark” as many of the other smaller megawatt projects the county IDA has approved previously.

The last time the county IDA approved a PILOT agreement for a solar project in the town of Hanover was in November 2020 for a 5-megawatt project to be placed at 1321 Routes 5 & 20 in Silver Creek.

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In 2021, the county IDA approved tax agreements with seven solar projects that were 5 megawatts or smaller. Two were in the town of Harmony, three were in the town of Sheridan, and two were in the town of Pomfret.

Seperately, the county IDA has approved tax breaks for a 270-megawatt solar project in Ripley that is more than 50 times the size of the approved Forestville project. That project still needs state approval.

There are a number of smaller solar projects proposed in various municipalities across the county that have not come before the county IDA. The town of Hanover is currently reviewing a separate project on Angell Road.