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by Hayden Robertson
CAMPBELL COUNTY, Va. (WSET) — The Campbell County Board of Supervisors voted 6-1 to allow Dominion Energy to build a solar farm off Brookneal Highway (Route 501) as long as they follow the conditions of their special use permit.
According to the county, Morgan Vickery of Virginia Electric and Power Company, doing business as Dominion Energy Virginia, agent for Sandra Carr, applied for a special use permit. The county said the parcel of land they are looking to build on was designated as rural and transitional.
The board of supervisors held a public hearing last month regarding the facility. Following the hearing, the board voted to allow Dominion Energy to respond and deal with some of the complaints that some families had who lived near the area.
During Tuesday's meeting, Supervisor Jon Hardie asked if Dominion Energy could come up and explain the differences in their proposal. George Jamerson, with Dominion Energy, shared that they had updated the plans to follow the conditions.
"Some of those issues that we have addressed that are enshrined in these, if you look at number one, that is the six-foot security fence and the 20-foot wide buffer along Brookneal Highway – Route 501," Jamerson said.
READ MORE: Board votes on emergency ordinance to require data centers to apply for special use permit
Below is a list of the conditions:
1. The Applicant will utilize the site in general conformance with the use described in the narrative and shown on the site plan submitted with the Special Use Permit, including the installation of a six (6) ft. security fence, and twenty (20) foot wide buffer (identified as Enhanced Screening on Sheet 7 of the site plan) along Brookneal Highway – Route 501 as shown.
2. The maximum Project Area, defined as the area within the security fencing of the solar energy facility, shall be a maximum of 13.4 acres. The Project Area may be shifted within the overall property as long as any setbacks and buffers shown on the site plan are maintained.
3. The maximum nameplate generation capacity of the project shall be 3 MW.
4. All landscaping in the twenty (20) foot buffer along Brookneal Highway – Route 501 (identified as Enhanced Screening on Sheet 7 of the site plan) shall be installed prior to any sitework or construction on the Project Area.
5. Decommissioning Plan:
a. The Applicant shall provide a detailed decommissioning plan that provides procedures and requirements for removal of all parts of the solar energy generation facility and its various structures at the end of the useful life of the facility or if it is deemed abandoned pursuant to 22-17.27 of the Zoning Ordinance. The plan shall include the anticipated life of the facility, the estimate overall cost of decommissioning the facility in current dollars, the methodology for determining such estimate, and the manner in which the project will be decommissioned. The decommissioning plan and the estimated decommissioning cost will be updated upon the request of the Zoning Administrator, provided the update shall be no more frequently than once every five years and no less frequently than once every ten years. The estimated decommissioning cost shall not include any credit for the salvage value of materials.
b. Prior to commencing any sitework or construction on the Project Area, the Applicant must provide security in the amount of the estimated cost of the decommissioning. The security shall be in the form of a performance surety bond in an amount equal to the estimated decommissioning cost developed and updated in accordance with the decommissioning plan acceptable to the County. The security must remain valid until the decommissioning obligations have been met. The security may be adjusted up or down by the County if the estimated cost of decommissioning the facility changes. The security must be renewed or replaced if necessary to account for any changes in the total estimated overall decommissioning cost in accordance with the periodic updated estimates required by the decommissioning plan. Obtaining and maintaining the requisite security will be a mandatory condition of the special use permit. The security shall be in favor of the County and shall be obtained and delivered to the County before any construction commences.
c. The decommissioning plan, cost estimates, and all updates of those plans and estimates shall be sealed by a professional engineer.
6. The Applicant shall provide the substantial cash payments set forth in this condition for substantial public improvements, the need for which is not generated solely by the granting of this permit, so long as such conditions are reasonably related to the solar facility that is the subject of this permit. The applicant and the county acknowledge and agree that the county is responsible for identifying in future budget years qualifying substantial public improvements that will be funded by these substantial cash payments in this condition. The substantial cash payments set forth in this condition are in addition to real estate taxes that the applicant must pay on the site and the facility. The substantial cash payments incorporated into this condition are the following:
A. $60,000 will be due within 30 days of the issuance of this Special Use Permit, of which $20,000 shall be provided to the Gladys Fire Department, which provides fire service for the property, to be used for substantial public improvements.
B. $30,000 will be due prior to the issuance of an erosion and sediment control permit for the facility.
C. $30,000 will be due on or before the date that is 90 days following the commencement of commercial operation of the solar facility.
The Applicant shall provide written notice to the county within ten (10) business days of when the facility commences commercial operation. The payment by the applicant of all substantial cash payments shall be a condition of this Special Use Permit. Once the Applicant has made all payments required under this condition, the condition shall be deemed satisfied.
After the discussion, Supervisor Watts made the motion to accept the solar farm for the area under the conditions above. Supervisor Hardie was the only one to vote against it.
2026 Sinclair, Inc.
