Battery storage land in the Town of Caledonia, New York

Confirm the town and the proposed use

This guide concerns the Town of Caledonia in Livingston County. The town Planning Board page identifies its area as outside the Village. Start with the parcel’s actual authority rather than relying on a Caledonia mailing address.

The posted chapter records an April 2025 replacement. Its Tier 2 route includes special-use and site-plan review. Confirm the current classification and filing requirements with Building and Zoning at 585-538-9320, including any later changes.

Send the office a short description of the proposed use and an accurate location. Describe whether storage would operate on its own, alongside solar or for an existing business. Ask the project team to identify the battery size, equipment area and electrical route it intends to evaluate.

Keep the response and the drawing together. A review route tells you how to present a proposal; it does not establish a usable grid connection, an acceptable land price or a completed design. Those questions still need their own answers before you decide to reserve the property.

Reference: Town of Caledonia: Planning Board and application resources · Town of Caledonia: Building & Zoning, applications and office contact · Town of Caledonia: Chapter 106 adoption history · Town of Caledonia: battery provisions, sections 106-15 through 106-21 · Town of Caledonia: adopted laws not yet codified

Know what your application signature covers

The posted energy application has a solar heading but includes a battery field. It asks each owner for consent. The separate site-plan package includes an owner authorization for an applicant acting on the owner’s behalf. Confirm which completed documents the town needs for this proposal.

Read the request, drawing and authorization before signing. Check that the parcel numbers, owner names, company and proposed use agree. If more than one tract is involved, know which owner is giving consent for each tract and which areas the request includes.

Discuss what the representative may do after filing. Who answers questions, receives notices and approves revisions? Decide which changes need to come back to you, especially a larger site, another access route, additional easements or a different party taking over the proposal.

Keep a dated copy of the package you approved and ask for copies of later revisions. If you are offered a replacement signature page, review the documents it belongs to. An initial conversation with a company does not require you to sign an unfinished public application.

Reference: Town of Caledonia: posted solar and battery application · Town of Caledonia: posted site-plan application and owner authorization

Agree who pays for review before it starts

The energy application’s checklist includes a pre-submission conference and review escrow. The site-plan package also describes applicant reimbursement of review expenses. Obtain the current fee and escrow instructions for the actual battery request.

Before someone files in your name, establish who pays those bills. Is the developer the applicant and payer? If your name appears on an account or undertaking, have your adviser explain what obligations that creates and how the company’s promise to reimburse you would work.

Ask for a budget and a process for expenses beyond it. Decide who approves additional studies, receives invoices and handles any unused balance. Keep the application expenses separate from option payments, rent, purchase money and removal security so the accounting is easy to follow.

The posted site-plan package uses different descriptions of submission timing. Confirm the actual deadline with the office rather than building an option schedule around one line in the form. Allow time to complete drawings and answer review questions; being placed on an agenda is not an approval.

Reference: Town of Caledonia: posted solar and battery application · Town of Caledonia: posted site-plan application and owner authorization

Show what needs to keep working on the property

The site-plan package asks about existing restrictions, prior approvals and current use. Its farm statement asks about drainage and the remaining land. Bring that information into the site discussion early.

Mark the access you use for planting, harvest, deliveries or tenants. Show gates, buildings and any route a neighboring owner may have rights to use. If the company needs the same entrance, ask how construction traffic and later maintenance visits would work alongside those uses.

Compare the proposed fence with the full rights area. A road, cable, screening strip or temporary work area can affect land beyond the equipment. Have the company distinguish permanent occupation from temporary construction rights and explain when each area would be returned.

Point out drainage tiles and places where water collects or crosses the tract. Ask who documents existing conditions, prevents damage and restores the land if construction changes them. Keep photographs, plans and repair responsibilities with the agreement rather than relying on a later recollection.

For leased farmland, involve the person who actually farms it in the layout discussion. Decide how the affected area, remaining access and temporary loss of use will be handled. A workable drawing should reflect the uses you intend to preserve as well as the project’s needs.

Reference: Town of Caledonia: posted site-plan application and owner authorization

Review the recorded removal plan and funding together

Section 106-19 requires an owner-and-operator removal plan recorded for the town’s benefit as a deed restriction, with financial security. Section 106-21 allows unpaid removal costs to reach the landowner and property. Have your adviser review those provisions alongside the proposed private terms.

Ask for the plan, cost estimate, security document and draft land agreement at the same time. Identify who provides the money, who can use it and what work it covers. A document requiring removal and a document funding removal serve different purposes; check that both match the actual site.

Work through foundations, batteries, cables, fencing, access and damaged ground. Decide what must come out, what condition the land should be in afterward and how completion will be checked. If you want landscaping retained, confirm that choice with the reviewing office and put the agreed result in writing.

Ask what happens if the company stops paying, becomes insolvent or abandons the site. Who must respond to a town notice? Which private obligations remain enforceable, and against which company? Discuss those questions while the company is seeking land rights, when you can still negotiate the arrangement.

Keep the recorded document and evidence of the current security where you can find them. If the land is later sold or refinanced, make sure the advisers handling that transaction see the battery documents. Do not assume a bond eliminates every potential cost to the property owner.

Reference: Town of Caledonia: battery provisions, sections 106-15 through 106-21

Keep responsibilities clear when a company changes

The code ties continued approval after an ownership change to written assumption of obligations and notice to the Code Enforcement Officer. Review that process before an operator or property transfer; private assignment terms need their own review.

Ask who would receive notice if the developer assigns an option or sells the completed project. The company that first approached you may not be the long-term operator. Establish how you will learn the new party’s identity, payment address, routine contact and emergency contact.

Compare the incoming party’s obligations with the existing documents. Check rent, insurance, access maintenance, removal funding and any guarantee. Have the team explain whether the original company is released, whether a guarantor remains responsible and how gaps between the two parties are prevented.

If you plan to sell the land, give the buyer the same document set early. Clarify what transfers with the property and what notices or consents are needed. A private closing date and a public notice requirement should be coordinated rather than left to different teams to assume the other has handled.

Keep one practical contact list covering payments, property maintenance and urgent issues. Request updates when responsibilities change. If a gate is blocked or a notice arrives, you should be able to reach the responsible person without tracing a chain of former companies.

Reference: Town of Caledonia: battery provisions, sections 106-15 through 106-21

Tell us about your Caledonia property

Start with your name, email and phone, then the property location. New York and Livingston County are selected here and can be corrected. Acreage and a parcel number are optional for an initial inquiry.

Tell us whether you would consider leasing, selling or offering only part of the tract. Mention farming, tenants, buildings, shared access and any existing energy agreement. Describe what you need to keep using and any plans you have for the remaining land.

If a company has already approached you, say whether you have signed an option, lease or application. You can describe the documents you have without preparing a new project plan. Our first step is to understand the location, the rights available and your preferences.

Further review needs to confirm the applicable rules, usable area and electrical path. Sending an inquiry does not approve a project or commit you to a lease or sale. It gives us a starting point for discussing whether the property is worth examining further.