BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- A greenhouse in the town of Massena has received a preliminary approval from the St. Lawrence County Planning Board but with a handful of conditions.

The 453,000-plus-square-foot facility will cover roughly 10 acres and is expected to supply fresh produce to the northeast with crops like lettuce.

Confluent Energies Inc. has proposed the project, which will be located in an industrial zone as part of a lease from Arconic.

County officials say the company is leasing 79 acres total from Arconic, with the project expected to be completed in two phases.

Confluent is expected to employ around 42 employees for phase one and around 141 employees for all phases, though the planning board only reviewed phase 1 recently.

Further review will be required when Confluent intends to begin on phase two, officials said.

As part of the agreement with Arconic, Confluent is expected to lease space for accounting, customer service and sales, with a new building to be constructed.

That building will be the greenhouse, which Confluent said is not required to go through code review since it is considered an agricultural building.

But planning board members disagreed with that assessment, arguing such structures can be subject to code review.

County officials said the structure should be subject to the building code in its entirety due to not meeting the definition of an agricultural building.

But Beardsley Architects + Engineers representative John MacArther informed the county that discussions with Town Code Enforcement Officer Patrick O’Brien ran contrary to that belief, with O'Brien agreeing the greenhouse portion was considered agricultural.

Under that belief, the growing portions of the head house, the irrigation room, germination and transplanting areas were also considered agricultural areas, he said.

MacArther said other areas, such as the boiler room, storage and processing areas were considered industrial occupancy, requiring a review under the building code.

One aspect of the project that the county Planning Board requested be remedied was greenhouse glow from the grow lights, officials said.

That needs to be remedied before moving forward.

Another aspect that Confluent Energies is seeking a change for is the requirement for parking spaces, 756 to be exact.

That's due to town code requirement but Confluent argues that 39 spaces would be sufficient given the size of the operation.

That change will likely require an area variance.

In the end, the county Planning Office recommended approval with three conditions, including lighting on the property to be downcast,dark sky compliant and a lighting plan to address "greenhouse glow" should be submitted.

County officials also suggested coordinating with the town Highway Department regarding a curb for road access. A wastewater management plan was also suggested after Planning Board members raised concerns about wastewater management.

Officials with Confluent said the three waste streams associated with the project would enter Arconic's wastewater treatment plant and be processed through the facility.

Confluent officials said the report, which was presented to the county Planning Board for wastewater management, has also been submitted to Arconic for review.

Board member Kenneth Bellor said he has reviewed the report with Arconic officials, noting that they were "very surprised with the detail of the project" and that the location manager and environmental superintendent were "not aware of the project detail."

He said leadership was "totally caught by surprise."

In response, Bellor said it was strongly suggested Confluent leadership meet with Arconic officials to review the project in detail, in particular from a project management standpoint.

"Arconic is the critical path on this project," he said.

In the end, county officials opted to recommend a water use and wastewater management plan also be included as a condition for approval, including a detailed plan for storm water management.

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