To the editor:

Aesthetics are important to a community in many ways. They enhance the character and beauty of a place, and add value and comfort to the residents that live there. Aesthetics also convey to others passing by or those who are visiting that this is a nice place to spend time and money. Aesthetics are often overlooked.

I hope this is not the case with the new Saranac Lake Community Solar project, but it looks like it has been by the way the entrance and road frontage has been treated. The signs hanging off the chain-link gates say “future solar project,” so I may be jumping the gun here, but I don’t think so. A very poor attempt has been made to landscape this project. A chicken-wire fence with wood posts are fine for the non-road sides of the project, but it is unacceptable for the road frontage of the property. Chain-link gates and number-two stone for the entrances are an epic fail, and 10 or 12 small ornamental shrubs that are already dead do nothing to soften the impact of this project.

On a project of this scale and cost, it is a real disappointment that more thought, effort and money could not have been allocated to developing a more aesthetically pleasing project for the entrance to our community.

Sincerely yours,

Timothy Hesseltine

Saranac Lake