Residents urge town to block solar panels on capped landfill; site-plan approval fails

Dozens of residents pressed the Cheektowaga Town Board on Jan. 14, 2025, to halt a proposed solar installation planned for a capped landfill at or near 777 Indian Road, arguing it would threaten the landfill cap, neighborhood wildlife and property values. The board rejected the project's site-plan approval later in the meeting.

The matter drew some of the longest public comment of the meeting. "I'm here to speak against the solar firm that is directly behind my house," resident Dawn Fialipsky said during the public-comment period. "We weren't even notified in our neighborhood to come and talk before the zoning board." Fialipsky said homeowners could see the project site from backyards and called the approa ch to public notice unfair.

Other residents urged the board to weigh environmental risks tied to the landfill cap. "The landfill cap is a critical barrier preventing toxic materials such as methane gas and leachate from contaminating our air, water, and soil," resident John Warwick said. "Installing these solar panels on-site risks puncturing and destabilizing the cap, which would directly impact our creek and harm our wildlife." Resident Tim Poziernicki, who said he had reviewed the site and comparable projects, urged the board to consider that the proposed site sits on a hill above a sealed landfill and warned of runoff and cap integrity risks.

Several speakers also raised fiscal and tax fairness concerns. "As far as the pilot, that means I'm pretty sure that means that they're gonna get a tax break on this if this goes through," resident Dawn Fialipsky said, adding that neighborhood homeowners would continue to pay full taxes while the facility might receive reductions. Vicki Leiter, who identified herself as a firefighter, said the project threatened the "quality of life" for nearby residents and voiced concern about potential health effects.

The application referenced in the board packet was filed by Gina Wolfman of AC Power on behalf of BFI Waste Systems of North America LLC (local project number 2024-1534). The resolution that would have granted site-plan approval (Resolution 2025-9) was discussed by the board and an offered amendment to make state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) permitting a condition failed on a voice vote. When the final roll-call vote was taken on the original resolution, the board voted 1-5 with Supervisor Brian Nowak the lone yes; five council members voted no, and the site-plan approval failed.

Council members and staff repeatedly said state oversight and permitting remain relevant to any landfill work, but residents told the board they had not been adequately informed before the zoning-board stage and wanted the town to require stronger safeguards, fuller notice, or to move the project to different land such as industrial brownfields.

The developers and project documents asserted the installation complied with local review criteria in Chapter 260 (zoning), but neighbors said photographs in the applicant's packet show the project visible from adjacent yards. Several residents provided letters to the clerk for the record.

The town did not adopt any new restrictions or conditions on the project at the Jan. 14 meeting; the site-plan approval before the board was defeated.

Ending: The board vote leaves the applicant without town-level site-plan approval as of Jan. 14. Residents and at least one council member said they expect continued discussion about landfill-solar siting, DEC permitting, and whether the town should require additional setbacks, public notice or other conditions before any future approvals.