HANOVER — Solar panels appear to be a hot topic throughout municipalities in northern Chautauqua County.

At the recent Hanover Town Board meeting, the zoning law for Sheridan was discussed. Apparently the current law was given to Thomas Gould, zoning and building inspector, to revise and update.

Dana Bennett, a member of the zoning board and resident, had some concerns about the newly proposed zoning law. One thing Bennett is concerned about is the saturation of solar panel farms.

“I think we need to look at limiting how many of these go in one area and limiting the size of them,” Bennett said.

Another one of his concerns is the sound the inverters make, which is a part of some industrial sized solar panel farms, according to Bennett. He explained that these inverters should be placed as far away from the residents as possible, so the noise doesn’t bother them.

One of his largest concerns is the height restrictions that were put into the law, which was 40 feet. He said that it seemed a bit excessive and was wondering what would be that tall. Town Supervisor Todd Johnson also chimed in at the point, seemingly bothered by this part of the law as well.

“We can’t even build our homes more than 33 feet, but we’re gonna have solar panels up to 40?” said Johnson.

Bennett finished up by saying that overall, what was added to the law is a lot better than what there was in the older law.

“(My intentions are) not in an effort to keep solar out; they are just an effort to make it work with the community and protect the members of the community,” he said.