A coal company will build a solar energy facility off old Route 209 between Tamaqua and Tuscarora.

On Thursday night, the Schuylkill Township Zoning Hearing Board voted unanimously to grant Reading Anthracite a special exception to build solar panels on 25 acres of a 1,512-acre parcel in a general industrial zone that is old coal land which is only used now for private recreation.

The hearing was continued from Sept. 27 so that Reading Anthracite could compile better information about the proposed facility.

While the first part of the hearing took about 75 minutes, Thursday night’s continuance lasted only 20 minutes.

The zoning board’s conditional approval contained conditions that the project comply with all regulations of the township zoning ordinance pertaining to solar panels, and that if the facility would be moved from its presently proposed site, Reading Anthracite would come back to the zoning board.

James Moore, an engineer for Lehigh Engineering, said the original proposal for 10 acres was expanded to 25 acres to accommodate wetlands at the site.

Moore said the particular parcel Reading Anthracite chose for the project because of its proximity to three-phase electrical service the facility could hook onto, and that vegetation - even in winter, when leaves are off the trees - will shield the facility.

“We chose it (the land) because it is not near residential areas, and because it has a gradual southern-facing slope,” Moore said,

On Sept, 27, Shawn Zeigler, an engineer for Reading Anthracite, said the solar panels would be positioned at a 20-25 degree angle facing south so the sun could hit them. Construction would not begin for about nine months, in order to finalize the project. Actual construction would take three to four months, he said.

Moore said while the zoning ordinance has a maximum building height of 50 feet, the solar panels would be only 10 feet off the ground. The positioning of the facility would also meet all front, rear, and side yard setbacks in an industrial zoning district. The 25 acres also represents less than 20% lot coverage of the 1,512-acre parcel, the minimum for an industrial zoning district.

The southern boundary of the facility would be 400 feet from old Route 209, the western boundary 1,600 feet from the nearest homes in the village of Tuscarora, 2,000 feet from the northern boundary, and two miles from the eastern boundary near Tamaqua.

“There would be as little reflection than is provided by a body of water,” Moore said, quoting U.S. Department of Energy information on solar panels.

Moore also said a wetlands scientist was brought in, and determined the facility would not disturb wetlands.

While lighting for the facility is to be determined, attorney Gretchen Coles Stearns of Pottsville, legal counsel for Reading Anthracite, pointed out there would be no reason to visit the facility at night.

Moore said Sept. 27 that using the land for the solar facility would be less intensive than normal industrial development of the property, and will add value old coal land difficult to find another use for.