STAUNTON, Va. (WHSV) – Over the past few weeks, concerns have been growing in Augusta County, as some speak out against a proposed solar project off Route 262.
Dimension Energy has proposed a new, nearly 24.6-acre solar project — located north of Parkersburg Turnpike and west of Route 262.
One woman, who lives in Staunton, said she has a barn on the proposed land that’s been in the family for decades, and she said she was afraid the new project would disrupt generations of open land.
“My family has owned this barn for over 48 years, and so the barn is the original old barn to the actual Harmon farm. So I have my livestock here … So I am right, located, right in the center of the whole development that will take place,” she said.
Jeanette Bentley said the rest of the original farm was torn down years ago by a developer, which built a shed and house in its place — she said she was surprised after receiving a notice from Dimension about the solar facility.
“For over 100 years this farm has been an active agricultural farm, be it fruit, hay, livestock, soybeans and corn … the developer, you know, has been around a couple of times. We’ve had a couple conversations about some issues here on the farm and concerning the driveway and stuff like that. So there was no mention of anything. So there was no mention of anything that there was any development plan, because we had directly asked him,” Bentley said.
She said there’s a lot to consider when creating a project like this, such as the environment and wildlife, but her biggest concern is the community.
“This is going to have a big impact… I mean, yeah, they’re starting out at 24 acres, but I think long term, it’s going to engulf the whole farm … it’s very imperative that we keep our farmland. This is our food chain we’re talking about. So, I’m really concerned that the community has to have a voice in this,” she said.
Augusta County responds to concerned community members
Julia Hensley, a planner with Augusta County’s Community Development Department, says they received an official application from Dimension for a small-scale solar project on May 4.
“The application is considered formally complete, and we will begin our series of processing that we do on solar applications,” she said.
However, she wants the community to be aware that nothing is set in stone. Because the application was just received, the county hasn’t started a formal notification, and the process is lengthy, as Hensley described below:
“The process for a solar application lives within the Community Development Department here in Augusta County. The planning office receives the application initially, because state code requires us to take that project to the planning commission for what is deemed a substantial accord determination,” Hensley said. “Regardless of the decision, the project then goes to the Board of Zoning Appeals, or this one will to determine final and ultimate land-use approval or denial of the special-use permit. When a project goes in front of the Board of Zoning Appeals, it is moved from the planning office, where we’ve helped determine substantial accord, to the zoning office, and all of that is under the umbrella of the Community Development Department.”
But, Hensley said she is aware of the community’s concerns, and she wants to let the community know the county plans to ensure land and wildlife are protected.
“We require the applicant to do any sort of environmental studies, and in this one, they have gone through a jurisdictional determination through the Army Corps of Engineers, and have determined that there are no wetlands on the property that will be impacted by the facility,” she said. “They also usually provide an endangered species analysis, whether or not there are endangered species present on the property.”
Balancing renewable energy goals while also preserving farmland is something that Hensley said has been an important topic of discussion for the county as well.
“That’s one of the concerns that we have at a staff level. The comprehensive plan focuses highly on preserving agriculture and supporting agriculture as a vital sector within the economy, and so, we take a lot of care when we’re evaluating a project as to the current land use of the property, the soil qualities, any farming practices that have gone on on the property,” Hensley said.
For those concerned about how this project will affect drainage, noise and visual impact, Hensley said the county has a heavy ordinance of requirements, and there are also a lot of state regulations that any applicant will have to abide by.
“So, from a stormwater or drainage perspective, they have to submit a stormwater and erosion and sediment control plan that is then reviewed by our engineering department and outside agencies such as the Department of Environmental Quality, and those have to ultimately be approved by the county and by those relevant agencies before the applicant can move forward in any sort of development,” she explained.
The tentative schedule for the planning commission isn’t until October, and then the Board of Zoning Appeals will consider it in December. Hensley said there’s plenty of time for community members’ voices to be heard before anything is approved or denied.
EnergyRight shares general tips that most may not know about solar projects
EnergyRight is a third-party nonprofit that works across the commonwealth, focusing on education and engagement, based in Richmond.
“… We go out in communities. We’ve connected in upwards of 80 counties in the state so far, and we work on just trying to educate the public on what clean energy technologies can mean,” he said.
Jack Wilson, director of communications at EnergyRight, said there are benefits associated with solar facilities that he believes people should consider.
“So, community solar projects are generally beneficial for a community in the surrounding region because, one, it uses less land than a typical solar project. It’s normally around 20 to 30 acres. By law, these projects have to be less than five megawatts, and it allows the community to subscribe to the program, which will allow them to not only get some energy from clean energy technologies, but also save money on their monthly bill,” he said.
Another benefit are jobs, he said. Solar projects can also create beneficial economic impacts locally.
“The thing about solar that is, in my personal opinion, a benefit, as opposed to other forms of development, is these projects are built and then generally require little maintenance, so not a whole lot of long-term full-time employment, but there will be a lot of opportunity for construction employment during that construction phase and temporary phases of the project,” he said.
Wilson said a lot of concerns people have are the environmental impacts; however, there are ways to know if a solar project is a “good” project versus a “bad” one.
“A good solar project looks like a project that is mitigating these risks to the best of their abilities, and looking at what impacts it will have on the environment, what impacts it will have on watershed, what impacts it will have on viewshed to keep that rural agricultural way of life, especially on farmland. I think that’s just the characteristics of a good project, is doing that due diligence and being able to kind of survey,” he said.
He said there are many rural communities across Virginia, and most localities and developers make it a priority to still insert vegetation within the area to help buffer the viewshed.
“And what that looks like is planting native plants across the, whether it be a roadway or a property line, to eventually block that solar facility from the view of the neighbors. So the idea, an ideal scenario for solar projects is to have the lowest impact possible in terms of development and be able to still bring economic impacts to a locality,” he said.
Wilson said this could also be an opportunity for families who live on the farm to keep their land for future generations.
“I think solar, especially solar of under five megawatts can be an opportunity for generational farmers to keep that farm in their family and not have to risk selling or going under, and be able to continue farming on maybe a slightly smaller portion of their own land, but on their own land nonetheless,” he said.
WHSV reached out to Dimension Energy about the project, they did not want to comment.
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