Battery storage in Greenburgh: understand the proposed use before reserving land.

Check the actual parcel and system

The Town zoning districts cover unincorporated Greenburgh. Establish the reviewing authority for the actual parcel before using this guide for land inside an incorporated village. Ask the planning department to confirm the district and any later rules relevant to the proposal.

Request a short written description of what the company intends to install. Which building or customer would it serve? Who would operate the equipment? Would you be leasing land, buying a service for your business, or being asked to do both?

The local definitions use stored energy in kWh or MWh, and Tier 2 limits vary by district. Ask the designer to provide the storage capacity and power rating with their units, then explain the proposed classification. A megawatt figure alone does not identify the local tier.

Keep the description with the layout and the offer. If the equipment or use changes during review, ask whether the land rights, payment terms or permission route would change too. You need to understand the revised proposal before it becomes part of an agreement.

Reference: Greenburgh Code: districts and official zoning map · Greenburgh Code: battery definitions · Greenburgh: Community Development and Conservation

Separate on-site use from a larger land proposal

Section 285-37.1 gives Tier 2 on-site-use proposals a Planning Board special-permit and site-plan route in specified districts. Tier 3 has a Town Board route with additional restrictions. The project team should explain which route fits the actual arrangement.

The published Tier 3 provisions limit connections to feeders from two identified Con Edison substations and allow at most one Tier 3 facility per identified substation. They also impose distance, site-area and open-space conditions. Those provisions do not establish an unused project slot or available electrical capacity.

Ask for the current Town response and utility evidence before agreeing to a lengthy hold. What decisions have been made, what work remains and what could prevent the proposal from proceeding? A company should be able to explain the next concrete step.

If the company points to another battery project as proof that yours will work, ask how the two designs compare. A different location, customer, district or approval history may change the answer. Review the documents for your property rather than relying on a nearby example.

Reference: Greenburgh Code: battery permitting, section 285-37.1

Look beyond the equipment rectangle

Have the company mark every requested area on one drawing: equipment, fences, entrance, cable route, temporary staging space and any land it wants kept open. Show your existing buildings, tenant areas and places you intend to use later.

For a larger proposal, ask how any open-space commitment would affect the rest of the property. Have your adviser explain any proposed easement or covenant, who can enforce it and whether it would remain after the battery lease ends.

Compare the drawing with the proposed payment. Are you being paid for the operating area while giving up use of additional land? Which rights would be exclusive, and which would be shared? Record those distinctions before discussing a final amount.

If an entrance crosses the part you will keep, walk the route with the company. Identify gates, deliveries, customers and existing utility services. Ask how future work on your retained property would be handled while the project is operating.

Keep tax payments separate from rent

Greenburgh adopted Local Law 5-2026 on September 9 for battery payments in lieu of taxes, often called PILOT payments. It is a taxation law. A tax arrangement does not grant permission to install a project or set the amount an owner receives for land.

Have your tax adviser and attorney examine the current filed law and proposed agreement. The adopted text includes exemptions and allows an authorized lessee or licensee to enter an agreement on the property owner’s behalf. Do not sign an authorization without understanding what it permits.

Ask for a written allocation of bills between you and the company. Who receives notices, pays each charge, deals with a disputed assessment and provides proof of payment? Who would handle a missed payment or a change in the tax treatment?

Compare the lease payment schedule with all costs you would retain. Ask whether a quoted amount is before or after taxes and other charges. Keep the land payment, any electricity-service payment and the tax agreement in separate lines so you can see what each one does.

Review a transfer as well. Who remains responsible if the project is sold, refinanced or operated by a different company? Have the documents address records, notices and unpaid amounts so you are not dependent on a verbal assurance from the original representative.

Reference: Greenburgh: adopted Local Law 5-2026, battery PILOT taxation · Greenburgh Town Clerk: local laws

Protect day-to-day use and the end of the agreement

For batteries serving a business, identify the account holder and the promised service. Which bill would change, who can control the system and what happens when it is unavailable? Ask how a tenant change, building sale or service interruption would be handled.

Give investigation work clear limits before contractors arrive. Specify notice, allowed activities, entry routes, insurance and repair. Separate permission to survey from permission to excavate, store materials or begin construction.

Ask who maintains the entrance and whom you call about a blocked driveway, damaged surface or urgent issue. If contractors must use an area shared with your tenants, establish how work is scheduled and how conflicts are resolved.

Plan for a proposal that stops during review as well as one that operates for years. Who repairs investigation damage and releases recorded rights? For an operating project, identify the removal work, restoration standard, funding and responsible party in the documents.

Keep copies of the signed agreements, approved drawing and later changes. Write down option expiry, extension payments and notice deadlines. A public review timetable does not explain when your private rights begin or end.

Tell us about the property

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

Mention whether you received a land offer, want equipment to serve a business, or are reviewing an existing agreement. Tell us which spaces and activities you need to retain and any approaching deadline. You do not need a finished project plan to inquire.

Sending an inquiry does not reserve your land, authorize an application or grant access. Any opportunity needs review of the actual site, current rules, utility connection, proposed rights and terms.