Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Solar Siting Agreements topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County notified of siting agreement for proposed 20‑megawatt solar array on Thomas White property
Summary
County staff told the planning commission that a siting agreement and Board of Supervisors public hearing have been advertised for a proposed 20 MW solar facility on roughly 100 acres of a 300‑acre Thomas White property; the conditional‑use application has not yet been filed with community development.
Staff informed the Southampton County Planning Commission that the Board of Supervisors has advertised a public hearing on a siting agreement for a proposed 20‑megawatt solar facility near Shady Brook Trail and Delaware Road. The board’s public hearing is set for May 27, 2025; the planning commission will review any concurrent land‑use applications once filed.
Ms. Randolph, Department of Community Development staff, said the parcel involved is a 300‑acre property owned by Thomas White and that the siting agreement references roughly a 100‑acre portion as the likely development footprint. The siting agreement is negotiated between an applicant and the Board of Supervisors and addresses financial milestones and payments to the county; it does not replace the conditional‑use permit and rezoning process that must run through the planning commission and the board.
Ms. Randolph said the conditional‑use application has not yet been filed with community development, so specific site and design details were not available. She also said the applicant must hold a community meeting before filing; the applicant is required to notify all property owners within a one‑mile radius of the site and hold that town‑hall meeting within 12 months of submitting the application.
Commissioners and staff discussed practical obstacles: interconnection to the electrical grid, Dominion Energy purchase agreements, and the fact that approved projects sometimes are not built. Mr. Randolph cited Isle of Wight County as an example: that county had approved 11 solar projects but only three had been constructed to date. He noted the majority of payments associated with a siting agreement typically occur when a project goes into service, meaning county revenues may not materialize for years if at all.
Ms. Randolph also said Southampton County has a notional cap based on 1% of county acreage for solar projects and that the county is “about a third of the way to that cap,” with roughly 1,442 acres as the cited baseline figure. Commissioners asked staff to share the property location and to watch for the community meeting and any forthcoming conditional‑use application.
No formal action was taken by the planning commission; the item was informational and the commission expects any land‑use application to follow the community‑meeting and application filing requirements.
