LANCASTER — The Lancaster Planning Commission approved a Conditional Use Permit and adopted a mitigated negative declaration for the expansion of the existing Heliogen Research and Development facility at 431 East Ave. K-4.
Applicant Heliogen Inc. seeks to expand the uses at the project site to include hydrogen production, processing, storing and dispensing; electricity production using a photovoltaic field and synthetic fuel production and storage.
“The project site in question has been an integral part of our business not only for our research and development endeavors but also to demonstrate for our stakeholders what exactly we do here at Heliogen,” Heliogen’s Jantien Shizuru said Monday during the public hearing on the proposed project.
She said the company hopes to produce green hydrogen at the facility.
“Although it’s on a relatively small scale here at our demonstration facility, it is really our hope that this is a stepping stone to be able to construct larger, commercial-scale green hydrogen projects in the city,” Shizuru said.
Vice Chairperson Cassandra Harvey asked about the end of life of the project and how the site will be decommissioned.
Joseph Long, vice president of Operations, said they did not specifically address mitigation at end of life.
“However, it’s a relatively simple, straightforward project to mitigate,” he said. “It’s basically steel, mirrors and concrete and all that would have to be removed.”
That would have to be at the expense of the developer, Senior Planner Jocelyn Swain said in response to a follow-up question from Harvey.
Heliogen would be required to return the project site to the condition in which they received it, Swain said in response to a question from Commissioner Daniel Tufts.
Tufts also asked about water usage at the site.
“As it is, our valley here, the water tables are getting lower and lower,” he said. “Where’s this water coming from? How much are you going to use?”
Long said the water comes from the domestic supply that was already there when they took possession of the property.
“The volume for the amount of hydrogen that we’re anticipating generating is about one gallon per minute,” Long said. “We would probably wind up using more for domestic use than we would for the hydrogen itself.”
The project site is the city’s former Gold Center and Driving Range. Heliogen has leased the property since 2019 for the testing of hydrogen/alternative energy equipment.
The proposed expansion would include installation of a 55-foot tall tower adjacent to the existing tower on site. The tower would support the expanded research and development uses at the facility and be similar in appearance to the existing tower.
There would also be a 100-kilowatt solar field comprised of approximately 400 solar panels. The panels would be used to test various photovoltaic components, including storage, panels and frames for solar thermal application.
The hydrogen production capabilities to be tested include storage, water capture, power generation from hydrogen and hydrogen venting and dispensing.
Approximately 500 kilograms of hydrogen would be produced daily and the storage unit volume would be approximately 1,000 kilograms.
“Hydrogen produced on site would be for project use only and not available to the public,” Swain said during a presentation at the meeting.
The hydrogen produced would create a synthetic crude that would be sent off-site for further refinement. Approximately 20 to 40 gallons of hydrogen would be produced a day.
An initial study was prepared and circulated from Feb. 7 to March 9. The city received four comment letters during the review period. Those were from the Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District, the California Department of Transportation, a property owner on Sixth Street East and the law firm of Adams Broadwell Joseph & Cardozo.
“Staff has reviewed the letters and feels that all the comments raised in the letters were adequately addressed in the initial study,” Swain said.
Each commissioner also received a copy of the letters with their agenda packets on March 16.
Adams Broadwell sent a second, 144-page letter 45 minutes before the scheduled start of the meeting on Monday, saying that because the initial study was not revised and the staff report does not talk about the letters received during the comment period, Planning staff did not evaluate or consider the comments.
“That is incorrect,” Swain said. “Staff reviewed all of the comments in all of the letters, and as previously stated feels were adequately addressed.”
Kelilah Federman, an attorney from Adams Broadwell Joseph & Cardozo, representing Citizens for Responsible Industry, said the mitigated negative declaration prepared for the project fails to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act because the staff report did not respond to public comments.
“CEQA requires that a public agency consider all comments on a MND before approving the project,” she said. “The city failed to comply with this requirement; there’s no evidence on the record that the city complied.”
Chairman James Vose said the purpose of the public hearing is to take input from the public.
Federman said the record before the commission “is substantially incomplete and lacks the substantial evidence to support project approval.”
She urged the Commission to continue the hearing and send the project back to staff to prepare an environmental impact report.
Vose noted the comments she raised were included in the letter her firm sent to the commission before the hearing. He asked about apparent conflicts between the conditions for the approval and requests from the AV Air Quality Management District. Swain explained the conditions for approval.
Vose also clarified other details about the project.
“Well, I’m satisfied that we have a complete project description,” he said. “We know what the environmental setting is; we certainly know about air quality. Clearly addresses the valley fever issue.”
The Commission voted 5-0 to approve the Conditional Use Permit and adopt the mitigated negative declaration, with Commissioners King Moore II and Leslie Underwood absent.
jdrake@avpress.com
