Council approves conditional use for O'Neil Solar with expanded tree buffer

Sussex County Council voted to grant a conditional use for a solar array on a 49.7-acre parcel in Broad Creek Hundred and amended the approval to require a broader tree buffer around the site.

After reading the short title and the planning-and-zoning recommendation, counsel recited the ordinance as an application to grant conditional use for a solar array on the described parcel, referencing the planning and zoning findings and numbered conditions. A council member offered an amendment to expand the landscape-buffer requirement: rather than limiting the 50-foot buffer to the north and east sides, the amended language requires a landscape buffer of at least 50 feet along all boundaries of the site.

The council then voted to adopt the conditional-use ordinance as amended. The motion carried; council members indicated support based on the testimony at the public hearing and the planning-and-zoning recommendation.

Why it matters: The conditional-use approval permits a utility-scale solar array in an AR-1 agricultural/residential district on the parcel described in the ordinance. The council’s amendment increases the required vegetative screening to all property boundaries, a condition the council said addresses adjacent residential concerns.

What the council approved: The ordinance grants conditional use for a solar array on a 49.7-acre parcel in Broad Creek Hundred (O'Neil Solar LLC) with conditions from planning and zoning and the council-amended landscape buffer requirement of 50 feet along all boundaries.

Next steps: The ordinance as adopted (with the amendment) governs the conditional use; any required permits, site plans and compliance reviews will follow through the county planning-and-zoning and permitting processes.