Considering battery storage on your Millville property?

Explain the actual battery use to Planning

Millville’s Planning page directs applicants to confirm which board application their project requires. Describe whether the battery would serve an existing business, export electricity, operate with solar or occupy a separate leased area. Ask how the proposed use and current zoning fit together.

Bring a simple location drawing and a description of existing operations. A discussion is more useful when the City can see the entrance, neighboring uses, electrical route and approximate equipment area.

Ask which current rules, approvals and outside reviews apply. A general application form does not establish that batteries are permitted on your parcel. Keep the written response with the documents you review with the developer.

Clarify who will obtain utility information and pay for the connection investigation. A planning discussion cannot establish the cost or feasibility of connecting the equipment to the grid.

Reference: Millville Planning: forms and application route

Review the owner signature with the full application

The 2026 packet includes separate applicant and owner signatures. It also has an escrow agreement for the applicant and the Board. Read the completed documents before deciding which role you would take.

Ask for the application and every drawing it refers to. Confirm the company name, property description, proposed use and requested relief. Avoid signing a blank form with the expectation that the remaining details will be filled in later.

Describe what you are willing to authorize: preparation of a particular application, a specified design, or a defined period of investigation. Have your adviser explain the effect of the actual documents rather than relying on an informal description of your signature.

Discuss how revised documents will reach you. If the developer changes the layout or asks for additional rights, when will you see the changes and when will your further agreement be needed?

An owner may need to account for co-owners, a lender, tenants or existing easement holders. Identify those interests early so the proposal does not overlook someone whose rights would be affected.

Reference: Millville 2026 application: owner signature and review escrow

Separate review costs from your land payments

The packet’s escrow agreement treats the initial review deposit as an estimate. It addresses further deposits, unused funds and professional site inspections. Establish who will handle those obligations before the application is filed.

Request a written cost arrangement covering the developer’s consultants, public review charges and any work you would commission for your own advice. A statement that the developer will pay costs needs enough detail to resolve an actual bill.

Ask who receives bills and requests for more funds, who reviews them and who must respond. If you receive a notice, what contact and response process should you use?

Discuss what happens if the company withdraws, loses financing or leaves the project unfinished. Who pays outstanding charges, closes the account and receives any unused deposit? Keep those responsibilities distinct from compensation for reserving your property.

Agree on the owner’s payment schedule independently. What is paid during investigation, what changes if the process takes longer, and what event starts the next payment? A fee paid to a public agency is not a payment to you.

Reference: Millville 2026 application: owner signature and review escrow

Keep the application plan and land agreement aligned

Millville’s published procedures distinguish an informal concept review from the application and approval process. A favorable conversation should not be used as the reason to treat a drawing as final.

Ask for one dated plan showing the equipment, access, electrical route, drainage and temporary work areas together. Compare it with the proposed lease or easement description. The land requested may extend beyond the fenced battery pad.

Walk through how existing operations would continue. Where would customers park, trucks turn, tenants receive deliveries and emergency vehicles enter? Identify the routes and areas you need to keep available.

Ask how a revised design would affect your agreement. Moving a driveway or cable route may matter to you even when the equipment remains in the same general part of the property.

If approval contains conditions, obtain the written decision and the drawings associated with it. Discuss any changes to access, drainage or construction responsibilities before work starts. Keep a record of what was finally agreed and built.

Reference: Millville Code: conventional development review procedures

Set practical rules for visits and an unfinished application

Arrange a contact and notice process for site visits. Explain any gates, operating hours, tenant areas, animals or activities the team needs to account for. Ask who will coordinate visits involving public reviewers and the developer’s contractors.

Discuss intrusive work separately from a walkover: soil borings, excavation, clearing and installation of temporary equipment. Identify the work area, restoration responsibility and appropriate insurance before allowing it.

Agree what happens when the application is delayed or abandoned. Could you continue using the site, consider another proposal or end the reservation? Which notice and cleanup duties would survive?

Keep copies of submitted material and important correspondence. If another company takes over, request current contacts and a written explanation of which obligations it accepts. Do not assume a new project name settles who owes you money.

Start with the information you have

You do not need a finished design to contact Sunland America. Share your contact details and where the property is located. Acreage, a parcel identifier and any existing proposal can help if available, but you can leave optional property details blank.

Tell us about the uses you want to protect and whether anyone has already asked you to sign paperwork. That helps frame the next questions around your circumstances. An inquiry does not require you to sign a lease, pay an application fee or authorize a municipal filing.