VULCAN — Norway Township Zoning Board of Appeals will meet Sept. 25 after failing to reach a decision Tuesday on objections raised to a conditional use permit approved June 28 for the Groveland Mine Solar project.

An appeal of the planning commission’s approval was filed by Rene and Laura Skrumbellos, who own property at W6345 Groveland Mine Road. Their appeal was on the grounds that the township did not perform due diligence, did not have the necessary signatures in a timely manner and that the effects on neighboring property values were not taken into consideration.

For those in attendance, many said they were concerned and disappointed about a lack of public input.

Township Supervisor Donald Byczek noted that when the planning commission had a hearing May 30 no objections were raised and a number of people spoke in favor of the Circle Power project. Only materials that had been previously submitted to the planning commission should be weighed in the appeals process, he said.

“At the public meeting when we adopted this, we had this open to the public and there were people here and they were for it but there was nobody here that was against it presenting any information to us,” he said. “To introduce new information at this time cannot happen.”

Rene Skrumbellos said evidence had been presented before the approval at the June 28 meeting.

Skrumbellos’ main concerns were the placement of the solar panels and what they would do to his property value. Laura Skrumbellos cited a study that showed homes suffer a greater decrease in property values the closer they are located to a solar farm.

Skrumbellos pointed out a discrepancy on the map that shows a project limit line that goes beyond the 264 township acres in question. The project line shows another 800 acres and comes within 1,250 feet of the Skrumbellos property, he said.

Chris Moore from Circle Power stated that the permit approval was for the 264 acres and any expansion would require another permit.

Byczek said that the current planning commission was unlikely to approve an expansion, but those in attendance were skeptical and questioned what a future planning commission might do.

When the issue of due diligence was addressed, Byczek said the township had indeed done its diligence. He pointed out the binders that he said contained study results and other project documentation. Public meetings were held ahead of the planning board’s approval of the conditional use permit and site plan, he added.

After the public discussion, a motion was made by Shannon Unrein to table the appeal. That motion failed due to the lack of a second. A motion was then made by David Solda to affirm the actions of the planning commission, which also failed due to lack of a second.

After some quiet deliberation, Chairman Tony Baciak made another motion to table the appeal. That motion passed with Solda voting against it.

The Sept. 25 meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. According to Byczek, the board at that time will consider additional materials for submission and determine what is permissible. The board will have the option to affirm the appeal, deny the appeal or deny the appeal but with added conditions.

Groveland Mine is a 347-acre former iron mine site gifted to the state in the mid-1990s. In June 2020, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources put out a request for proposals to develop a large-scale solar array and Circle Power was awarded a lease a few months later.

The proposed 120-megawatt solar project also includes lands in Felch and Sagola townships. According to Circle Power, visitors to the Groveland Ponds and other nearby fishing and hunting habitats will have the same access as today.

The solar panels would be sited on land that has been closed to motorized traffic for decades, the company says.