Residents voice concerns as Pivot Energy presents proposed solar farms on airport parcels

Seth Schafer, a representative of Pivot Energy, told East Allen Township supervisors that the company is seeking consideration of a zoning map amendment for two airport-authority-owned parcels on Weaversville Road and Pheasant Road to allow agricultural zoning and eventual conditional-use review for solar farms. Schafer described typical projects as 1–5 megawatts (roughly 5–30 acres), typically operated remotely with a 20-year lease and decommissioning requirements.

The presentation drew repeated concerns from nearby residents about the projects’ scale and local impacts. "The owners of the land, Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority, they are not your friends nor are they friends of this community," said Robert Beisher, a Weaversville Road resident, who listed aesthetic harm, soil erosion risks from clearing, habitat disruption, water needs for panel cleaning and the possibility that solar farms attract data-center development. "Think about what you're doing tonight," he said, urging caution.

Another nearby resident, Robert Lalo, said he lives adjacent to one parcel and called rezoning "even early to consider" without detailed plans. Residents asked about the number of panels (Schafer cited about 241 strings of 24 modules, roughly 5,700 panels at one site), whether panels contain toxic elements (Schafer named Silfab panels from South Carolina and said they do not contain lead or cadmium but contain a small amount of silver), and who would pay for decommissioning if a project failed.

Residents and supervisors also pressed the presenter on safety: Schafer said inverters and transformers can catch fire similar to other electrical equipment but stressed projects include perimeter remote shutoffs and that the company coordinates fire-department training. On water use, Schafer said routine panel cleaning generally does not require substantial water in this region and that many projects maintain low-growing vegetation or use managed grazing to reduce runoff.

Board members clarified procedural limits: this meeting was a presentation on a requested map amendment, not a vote to rezone. The board must decide whether to schedule a public hearing and send materials to the planning commissions for review. Staff said the board could take the application under advisement, schedule a hearing, or vote to proceed with a hearing; members discussed a January 22 workshop date as a possible time to consider whether to schedule a hearing.

Schafer said no batteries are proposed and that under current Pennsylvania utility programs a project cap of about 2.5 MW applies for the PPL net-metering pathway; larger projects would require different regulatory review. He also described possible community benefits and modest tax revenues and said companies often negotiate township donations for parks or roads as part of project agreements.

The board did not make a rezoning decision; members agreed to consider the presentation and potential hearing dates at a future meeting. If the board chooses to proceed, subsequent conditional-use and land-development reviews would follow and include public hearings and additional technical review.