Clay Board Pushes Battery Storage Votes to July, Opens Divided Hearing on Data Center Moratorium

Key Actions & Decisions

• ◆ • Board adjourned public hearings on three BESS special permits — Nexamp Inc.'s Wetzel Road Storage LLC (Case #1243), Nexamp's Long Branch Storage LLC (Case #1244), and Carson Power LLC (Case #1245) — each to July 20, 2026, because town code language defining battery storage parameters is not yet finished (5-0 on each adjournment)
• ◆ • Board opened and closed a hearing on Local Law No. 6 of 2026, a proposed 12-month moratorium on zone changes/special permits for data centers, AI computing facilities and cryptocurrency mining; the IBEW Brotherhood opposed it, while Councilor Eugene Young and residents Michelle Bristol and Kris Beckett spoke in favor; no vote to adopt was taken
• ◆ • Board closed a hearing on The Reserve at Clay zone change (61 single-family lots on +/- 20.18 acres at 8201 Lawton Road, RA-100 to R-7.5), where a resident questioned a 2024 traffic study's relevance given Micron-related traffic growth and another asked about environmental impact; no vote taken
• ◆ • Board closed a hearing on a special permit for CNY Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine to occupy a 7,000-square-foot medical office at 5232 Witz Drive; no vote taken
• ◆ • Board opened hearings on four proposed Michael's Farm special districts (lighting, drainage, sewer, water) for a planned 125-home Heritage Homes subdivision, with unit charges of $64.47 annually for water, $22.00 for sewer, and $121.92 annually for drainage
• ◆ • Board released Harke Farms maintenance guarantee securities to developer COR VerPlank Road Company, LLC: Sewer District from $18,000 to $0, and Drainage District from $3,000 to $0 (5-0 each)
• ◆ • Board approved an easement/road abandonment and a new drainage easement at Riviera Shores Lot No. 1A (5-0 each), and a Limited License letter for 4019 Plum Yew Circle (5-0)
• ◆ • Board appointed Michael Becker to the Zoning Board of Appeals to fill the unexpired term of Mary Lou DesRosier, through December 31, 2030 (5-0); no action was taken on a ZBA alternate appointment
• ◆ • Board accepted completed infrastructure, easements and a warranty deed for roads in The Farmstead Subdivision Section No. 8 from developer Maple Road Associates, Inc., which is posting $11,624 in maintenance guarantees ($6,132 sewer and $5,492 drainage), $25,000 for overland drainage, $65,960 for highway work, $1,800 in monument deposits and $12,000 in parkland contributions (5-0 each)
• ◆ • Meeting adjourned at 8:19 p.m., 5-0