Planning Commission meeting 2/15: 2/16 UPDATE on proposed adjustment to the Orange County VA Comprehensive Plan regarding public utilities & proposed solar project on Mayhurst Lane

UPDATE: At the February 15 Planning Commission meeting, the commissioners denied the Orange Road/ESA Solar project and approved baseline language to guide solar siting for insertion into the Comprehensive Plan. The meeting room was full of county residents opposed to the solar project proposed for a hillside above the Mayhurst Inn. Numerous residents shared their thoughts during the public hearing. Regarding the language to guide solar considerations in the Comp Plan, a few changes were made to the proposed language shared in the post below and we will pass along the final text as soon as a copy is available. (Some of the changes suggested were not available in writing to the public prior to or during the meeting.)

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Original post:

This meeting will hold public hearings. The first is related to Orange Road Solar, also known as ESA Solar, a 5MW project on 70+ acres with agricultural zoning on Mayhurst Lane, in close proximity to historic estate & inn Mayhurst as well as Prospect Heights Middle School. The first hearing will be to determine whether the application is in substantial accord with the Comprehensive Plan and the second hearing will be on the special use permit application for the project. (Ed. note - there ended up being only one hearing related to this project.)

Options to express your view: come and participate in the public hearing in person, or sending a comment via email prior to the meeting to zoning@orangecountyva.gov. Written comments must be received by 5 pm on February 14. The hearing will take place at the Orange County Public Safety Building, 11282 Government Center Drive in Orange.

The second hearing will be regarding the draft language for the Comp Plan, this is the first visible step the county has taken to identify key considerations with public utility projects. If passed it will guide future deliberations. Very important to weigh in!

Background: At the January 18, 2024 Planning Commission meeting, the commission discussed a memo dated January 8, 2024 from Josh Frederick, Planning & Zoning Services Manager for Orange County, which was accompanied by proposed draft language to be added to the county's Comprehensive Plan regarding public utilities. The commission voted to move the matter to public hearing (no date identified yet).

The memo to the county Planning Commission reads as follows:

Summary

In late 2023 the Planning Commission assembled an ad-hoc subcommittee to develop new policies to guide decision making on utility scale solar and other public utility facility applications. The primary goal of these policies is to establish some baseline considerations by which all applications will be analyzed. With the guidance of planning staff, these proposed facilities were incorporated into a Comprehensive Plan amendment as the most appropriate medium. All public utility facilities are permitted via special use permit (SUP) and consistency with the Comprehensive Plan is one of the most important consideration for the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors in approving or denying SUP applications.

The initial draft of the policies produced by the subcommittee is attached. The proposal adds a new section to the Public Facilities section of the Comp. Plan, specifically to subsection F (Community Infrastructure) along with a bulletized list of proposed policies.

Recommendation

Should the Planning Commission determine a Comp. Plan amendment is appropriate, general consensus to pursue the application would be needed. The Commission could then choose to schedule additional work sessions on the proposal or ready it for a public hearing at a future meeting.

Draft CPA 24-01 amendment language

Public Utility Facilities

Orange County recognizes that if public utilities are not considered and sited properly that they can negatively impact existing businesses, economic development, environmental resources, historic resources, and citizen well-being. Accordingly, when considering placement and/or approval of public utilities, the prevention and/or mitigation of negative impacts to existing County businesses and adjacent property owners will be heavily weighted and placed at the forefront of the County's consideration. The following elements, while not all inclusive, require special attention when considering the operations, siting, and/or placement of public utilities (it should not be construed that consideration of these alone will result in approval or a favorable decision in relation to a public utility):

• Protection of productive farmland including but not limited to the preservation of existing soil compositions particularly topsoil and the preservation of land within designated agricultural regions.

• Protection of historic resources including but not limited to preserving the integrity of designated historic districts, sites, and structures.

• Protection of tourism-related businesses (particularly agritourism and history tourism) and the associated tourism corridor viewsheds.

• Protection of adjacent properties to include the viewsheds from adjacent properties.

• Protection of wetlands, floodplain areas, and dam break indundation areas.

• Limitation of disruption to environmental/wildlife resources, to include limiting destruction or disturbance of intact woodland and freshwater habitats.

• Encouragement of a recycling life cycle approach to include the reutilization or recycling of public utility equipment and components at their end of life.

• Insurance that adequate funds are available to decommission a public utility at the end of its life or if the site becomes otherwise inoperable, in order to return the land to its original condition pre-development condition.

• Encouragement of the continuation or incorporation of farming activities for public utilities proposed on existing agricultural land. For example, utilization of marketable animals around solar plant arrays to control vegetation.

• Ensuring that adequate public resources arre available to mitigate or prevent environmental, fire, safety and/or other hazards that may be associated with public utilities. For example, ensuring a public utility includes the provision of required first responder equipment and/or training for specialized equipment or installations.