Planning agency backs Greenridge zoning amendments; flags battery-storage safety and moratorium extensions

The county planning agency recommended on Aug. 1 that proposed amendments to the Town of Greenridge zoning ordinance be treated as a matter of local concern, while flagging safety and training issues tied to battery energy storage systems.

Planning staff presented the proposed changes as an effort “to bring the town regulations into alignment with the goals of the 2023 Town and Village of Greenwich Comprehensive Plan and to reflect contemporary development standards and emerging technologies,” and the agency moved to treat the proposal as a local concern. The motion passed with all members saying “aye.”

Agency members discussed the town’s existing moratorium on solar and battery storage. One staff member said, “The town currently has a moratorium on solar and battery storage. And one of the reasons is to examine … the training and availability of equipment and so on that our volunteer firefighters would need to have for a battery storage facility,” and added concerns about containment and potential impacts to surrounding soil.

Board members noted the moratorium is currently six months and that the town expects to extend it another six months to allow time to develop code requirements, training support for volunteer fire departments, and containment measures. A commenter on the agency recommended that the draft zoning language include explicit fire‑safety and containment requirements and suggested listing conditions tied to special‑use/conditional permits rather than leaving them unspecified.

The agency also recommended that where special‑use permits are added to the table of permitted uses, the town include enumerated conditions for review rather than relying on a generic requirement to seek a permit. One agency member urged providing a link to Department of State guidance on reviewing energy projects and following established procedures for local review.

The agency’s recommendation does not itself change the town code; it forwards the matter and the agency’s technical comments to the local boards for final action. Agency members emphasized their role was to review county infrastructure impacts — for example, whether a proposed facility would affect emergency response or soil and water resources — and not to make the town’s land‑use decision for it.

The agency’s motion to treat the zoning amendments as a local concern and forward its comments passed unanimously.