BFI plans solar array for Cheektowaga landfill site

BFI plans to install solar panels at a landfill in Cheektowaga.

Proposed elevations for Hospice & Palliative Care's new outdoor pavilion in Cheektowaga.

BFI Waste Systems of North America may have a new use for a state Superfund landfill in Cheektowaga: solar power.

Under a lease agreement with the waste hauler, AC Power Development Co. wants to put up a 3.25-megawatt commercial solar array on part of a capped landfill at 777 Indian Road in Cheektowaga.

The manufacturing and heavy industrial site, which includes a 41.8-acre parcel in the town and a 2.95-acre parcel within the village of Depew, currently contains a warehouse and former transfer station that is no longer being used.

According to documents submitted to the town, the solar array would be used to generate power as part of the New York State Energy Research and Development Administration's NY Sun Community Solar program. It would occupy 24.6 acres of the site, with 7,076 panels installed in rows oriented east and west. AC Power already obtained a zoning variance in August.

The plan was poised for consideration by the town, but has been put on hold temporarily.

Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo is adding an outdoor pavilion and boardwalk through the woods at its Bennett Road campus, providing a gathering and birdwatching place for clients and employees, as well as the community.

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The nonprofit agency plans to construct an open-air one-story building of 3,200 square feet, along with raised wooden boardwalk pathways and observation decks through the woods and wetlands for wildlife viewing, according to a letter of intent to the town. That includes daily incidental use, staff-wide gatherings or meetings, memorials and community events, and potential outreach or fundraisers.

The facility will be built with heavy timber construction, a hip roof and high windows for natural light, with small enclosed spaces for mechanicals, utilities and storage. It will accommodate 360 people when standing, 257 in chairs and 120 people in a less concentrated configuration of tables and chairs.

It will be erected in the northeast corner of a lawn area at 225 Como Park Blvd., northwest of Hospice's existing Wilson Center and fountain at 150 Bennett. No additional parking will be added, as the campus already has 360 parking spaces, including 178 spaces within 500 feet of the proposed pavilion.

Reach Jonathan D. Epstein at (716) 849-4478 or [email protected].

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The site is located on 118 acres of the former Lancaster Sanitary Landfill, off Gunnville and Shisler roads behind the Lancaster Motorplex racetrack.

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