HALIFAX COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) – A Halifax County resident is speaking out against a solar project approved by the county’s Board of Supervisors, saying the decision ignored community opposition.
Jeremy Barksdale, who lives in the Liberty community off Chisolm Trail, said the Boxwood Solar project will sit less than a mile from his home.
“I moved here to enjoy the outdoors and raise my boys up to enjoy the outdoors too,” Barksdale said. “With a solar farm here you ain’t gonna do all that.”
A few weeks ago, the Halifax County Board of Supervisors approved the Boxwood Solar project, overruling their own planning commission’s recommendation to deny it. The project is a 69-megawatt solar facility with panels on 954 acres of land.
Barksdale said more than 100 people signed a petition opposing the project, but he said it was never brought up during the June vote.
“I feel like a hundred voices speaks louder than a couple emails sent to the board,” Barksdale said.
Supporters of the project pointed to the revenue it would bring to Halifax County. Rob Propes of CEP Solar said the project would generate significantly more income than the land currently produces.
“The project compared to what the revenue that the county gets today from that land …this project would generate 38 times more revenue than its current use,” Propes said.
Halifax County Supervisor Dennis Witt echoed that position.
“Do we need the revenue? Yes, we do need the revenue. We have unmet needs in public safety. Huge unmet needs that without some source of revenue, we’ll have to raise taxes one way or the other,” Witt said.
Liberty Volunteer Fire Chief Terry Hudson said revenue should not be the deciding factor.
“It seems as though money blinds everybody,” Hudson said.
Barksdale said he is filing an appeal of the board’s decision. Members of the Halifax County Board of Supervisors were contacted for comment on the project’s approval, and a response is pending.
Construction on the Boxwood Solar project would begin in late 2027 and is expected to take about a year to complete.
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