A solar farm developer has leased the rights to 900 acres in Kidder Township. It needs the township to change its zoning ordinance to allow its proposed solar project.

Cypress Creek Renewables wants to develop a solar farm which to power over 10,000 homes. That would make it one of the largest in Pennsylvania, with an estimated cost of $60 million.

On Thursday, the Kidder Township Supervisors hosted a meeting with Cypress Creek to discuss the proposed zoning change. The developer wants the township to allow solar projects in the recreation/resort commercial district where the project is located.

Many of the questions at Thursday’s meeting centered on the environmental impact of the project.

“Why (choose) land that’s beautiful when there’s so many other pieces of property in the state of Pennsylvania that don’t have trees?” said Cyndi Pantages.

Cypress Creek says the currently wooded tract is ideal for a solar farm because there are few vacant tracts of land which have the utility infrastructure and nearby population to justify such a project, Cypress Creek officials said.

“It’s extremely difficult to find large pieces of property land situated along transmission lines and located near a substation,” said David Weightman, senior developer for Cypress Creek.

Cypress Creek says that the project would be located in an area where it would be invisible to most of the township. It would also not produce any noise or glare.

Resident Mark Peterson said that while the tract is located in a remote section of the township, it would still have a major impact on the environment.

“Even if we’re not present where those trees are, they provide a home for the wildlife and clean air and it provides a barrier from Route 80 so we don’t get all the noise. All of these things are important to us,” Peterson said.

Cypress Creek says it plans to immediately plant trees in other areas of the township, and would replant the entire property when the expected 40-year life span of the project ends.

Among the local benefits of the project, they say would be an estimated $170,000 property tax revenue, split between Jim Thorpe School District, the county and Kidder Township. They also want to create a solar energy construction training program with Lehigh Carbon Community College.

Before any changes to the ordinance are made, the township would be required to hold a public hearing, and make the text of the proposed ordinance available for residents to review.

“Regardless of what happens with this ordinance, this project is far from a done deal,” Weightman said. “We have a lot of scrutiny, a whole lot of work to do before that.”