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The Warm Run solar project, a 3.0 megawatts facility planned for 34 acres of the 166-acre Huffman farm near the Interstates 81/64 and U.S. 11/I-64 interchanges, north of Lexington, has been recommended for approval for a second time by the Rockbridge County Planning Commission.
An initial recommendation was made Sept. 11 but the matter was remanded back to the Commission by the Board of Supervisors due to a procedural issue. Revisiting the matter last Tuesday, Nov. 12, the Commission voted 3-1 to recommend the supervisors grant a special exception permit for the solar array. The Commission also determined, by the identical vote of 3-1, that granting the permit would be in compliance with the county’s Comprehensive Plan.
The reason for sending the matter back to the Commission was because one of the members participated in the earlier meeting remotely before the Commission had taken an annual vote to approve its electronic meeting policy. A new state law that took effect July 1 requires that public bodies such as the Commission annually adopt electronic meeting policies. Such a policy was adopted by the Commission at its Oct. 9 meeting.
The supervisors had also requested that the Commission determine if approving the solar array at the requested location would be in compliance with the county’s Comprehensive Plan. A few revisions were made to the proposed conditions recommended for the special exception permit, including the addition of a condition that the applicant pay the county $45,000 for the construction of public improvements associated with the project. The improvements planned include the purchase of fire protection equipment that would not be needed solely for the solar project.
The same three Commission members who voted in favor of recommending approval of the solar array Sept. 11 also voted last week for the latest recommendation and to find that the project’s location is in compliance with the county’s Comprehensive Plan. Providing those affirmative votes were David Whitmore, Tony Subrizi and Tom Beebe. The lone dissent on each vote last week was cast by Robert Kramer. He and Adam Sandridge cast the dissenting votes on Sept 11. Sandridge was absent from last week’s meeting.
The Board of Supervisors will take up the matter at its next meeting this Monday, Nov. 25. A public hearing is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
In the citizens comments portion of last week’s Planning Commission meeting, 11 speakers offered their views on the Warm Run solar project.
“Please consider the Huffman farm as an acceptable spot for a solar field,” said Phyllis Fevrier. “I drive by the solar field in Rockbridge Baths on a regular basis. I look across the reflective surfaces of the panels and see beauty and hope. Hay bales line the perimeter, creating an agricultural symmetry. The miracle of this energy production is very similar to what occurs with chlorophyl and sunlight and every leaf and every tree and in blades of grass. I find beauty and hope in these panels – not only the hope of clean electrical energy shared with so many people in our county but [also by taking] a step in the right direction to reduce CO2 in our atmosphere, thereby reducing catastrophic heating of our planet.”
Holding a different view was Kris Baumann. “This is not about solar,” contended the former tax attorney. “This is about harvesting tax credits. The individuals building this, these companies, this entire industry, [do] not care how much energy they produce. That is going to be the issue for Dominion and the other utilities that have made deals with the state. All they [the applicant] want to do is put this together and walk away with their tax credits and sell it to the next LLC and the next LLC and the next one, and by the time we reach the third LLC, this county is not going to have the resources to do anything about any of it. … This is a perverse incentive through the tax code. People go out and throw these things together, walk away and it’s the local communities, the neighbors, us, the local governments, that have to deal with these issues.”
Melody Tennant said she favors the solar project because “I have a child and grandchildren and am concerned about their future. The facts I’ve gotten is this solar [project] is going to be on rocky ground. This would be a great place to put solar. It would provide electricity for 340 houses.” The project, if it does what proponents say it will do, “helps the next generation,” she added.
Mitchell Davis said his family owns land “that would be surrounded by this on two sides. We’ve got four homes on the property – my sister’s, [mine] and two rental homes. All would be negatively impacted during construction, which can last almost two years, and goes from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., six days a week. They’ll be drilling through solid rock for posts, power poles and cables. The dust and loud volume of this drilling will make our lives miserable. Spending time outdoors or even having our windows up won’t be an option. It harms our quality of life.” He said he worried that drilling could endanger his wells.
“Once construction is over, we’ve got a permanent eyesore,” he continued. “As you know, the trees they’re talking about won’t grow on solid rock so there’s no screen so we’re looking right at it. We got noise, glare and health concerns.”
He said he’s heard his property values could drop as much as 20 percent. He said he’ll have difficulty finding renters “who wouldn’t mind living next to a solar field.” He concluded that the county has “reasonable grounds to deny the special exception.”
