Old Bridge Zoning Board approves solar canopies for Old Bridge Medical Center

The Old Bridge Township Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a plan June 29 to install 17 solar canopy arrays over parking at Old Bridge Medical Center, voting to grant a D-1 use variance, preliminary and final major site-plan approval, three design waivers and related bulk variances.

Neil O’Brien, attorney for the applicant, told the board the canopies are accessory to the hospital use and will feed all power back to the medical center rather than into the grid. "All of the power generated by these facilities will feed the hospital," O’Brien said, asking the board to treat the arrays as an inherently beneficial accessory to the hospital and to approve the requested variances.

The applicant’s civil engineer, Todd Giddings of Dewberry, described the site as about 30 acres with two principal parking areas and said the proposal includes 10 carport canopies in the west lot and seven in the rear (north) lot. Giddings testified the minimum underside clearance is 14 feet and overall steel heights range roughly from 18.5 to 20 feet; he said the project requires limited new impervious area, estimating under 1,000 square feet in revised calculations.

Keith Kost, director of energy for Hackensack Meridian Health, testified for the hospital about operational and environmental benefits. Kost said the project will "offset 2,645 metric tons of carbon a year," result in "roughly a $920,000 a year savings" and is expected to supply "roughly 98% of our entire electric usage for this facility," with estimated utility savings of approximately $27,000,000 over 30 years. Kost described phased construction and a shuttle plan to move affected staff during each construction phase so patient access and emergency operations are not interrupted.

Brandon Cole, project executive for Infra (the proposed energy-as-a-service provider), said Infra will maintain the arrays under a 30‑year operations-and-maintenance agreement. Cole described two separate equipment pads and fenced inverter areas for the two systems, confirmed remote monitoring and onsite O&M, and said the electrical and structural plans had received review by the Department of Community Affairs. He also said the project team met on site with local fire officials and received a contemporaneous letter indicating the fire officials were satisfied with access, labeling and shutdown/training arrangements.

Board professionals and members focused questions on three design waivers: removal of some trees beneath canopies (with onsite replacement and payment to the township tree fund proposed as mitigation), narrower effective parking stall widths where columns are placed (worst cases of about 7.5 feet in a small number of spaces, with flush‑mount columns and bumpers proposed to reduce impact), and modified lighting spacing because under‑canopy downlighting replaces pole lights. Giddings and the applicant offered to maximize flush-mounted footings where practicable, provide stall-by-stall dimensions and work with the board’s planner to add buffering between the arrays and adjacent residences if needed.

Lance Landgraf, a licensed planner and AICP-certified consultant, advised the board that both hospitals and solar facilities are treated as inherently beneficial under New Jersey municipal land use law and applied the CECA/SECA balancing test for D-1 relief; he said the project’s public benefits and use on existing impervious areas supported relief and recommended conditions such as supplemental landscaping near the apartment complex abutting the rear lot.

After board professionals said the applicant had responded point‑by‑point to review comments and that outstanding technical items could be resolved as plan revisions or conditions, the board took a single vote to approve the application. Recorded votes were Yes from Miss Andrews, Mister Scogno, Miss Spinelli, Mister Singh, Miss Fernbach and the chair; the motion passed.

The board’s approval covers the major preliminary and final site plan, a D-1 use variance (with the applicant’s argument that bulk setbacks are subsumed or otherwise justified) and three design waivers related to trees, stall widths and lighting. The public portion was opened and closed with no public speakers. The board scheduled its next regular meeting for July 16.

What happens next: the approved plan will be revised to address conditions and any final comments from board professionals and will move through typical local permitting steps before construction begins. The applicant and hospital said they will continue to coordinate details such as final footing types, supplemental buffering and the construction phasing plan.