Planning Commission approves Oak Lane solar special-use permit, sends recommendation to Board of Supervisors

Prince Edward County Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of a special‑use permit for the Oak Lane Solar Farm, a proposed 5‑megawatt facility that applicants say would place roughly 60 acres of solar panels on privately owned parcels near Route 360. The commission found the proposal “substantially in accord” with the county comprehensive plan and forwarded the application and conditions to the County Board of Supervisors for action on April 8.

The Oak Lane application, filed by CEP Solar (Commonwealth Energy Partners), is described in the packet as a proposal to construct and operate a 5 MW facility on three parcels the application lists as totaling 194.8 acres; the applicant later said the three parcels combined are under 90 acres and that the preliminary panel layout would occupy about 60 acres. The applicant said the site would be built with vegetative buffers and a decommissioning bond and that the facility would interconnect to nearby distribution lines without a new substation.

Why it matters: the commission’s decision clears the project to advance to the Board of Supervisors with conditions that the commission must enforce if the board approves. Neighbors and conservation advocates raised concerns about visibility, stream buffers, erosion and…