Pittsylvania BZA grants amended special-use permit and two-year start window for Shaco Solar after public comment

The Pittsylvania County Board of Zoning Appeals voted 5-2 on Feb. 10 to amend the conditions of special-use permit SD-25-003 for Shaco Solar LLC, allowing the company more time to complete electric‑grid interconnection steps and updating site standards to conform with the county’s current zoning ordinance.

The amendment covers a proposed utility‑scale solar facility on 15 parcels in the Banister election district, described in the application as totaling roughly 907.88 acres along State Route 57 (Halifax Road) and State Route 640 (Java Road). The board approved staff-recommended changes that include 50-foot setbacks from property lines, 200-foot setbacks from bordering residential properties, a 100-foot‑wide landscape buffer with an approved maintenance plan, and a required viewshed protection plan and fire/rescue training. The permit as amended also requires construction to begin within two years of the modification.

Why it mattered: The applicant told the board delays in the regional transmission operator’s interconnection studies (PJM Interconnection) have pushed the project’s schedule beyond the permit’s original expiration. TotalEnergies development staff said the company has increased financial commitments and is seeking the extension to align county approval with the interconnection timeline.

TotalEnergies project developer Yewon (Vywin) Sung told the board the original permit was tied to an interconnection schedule that shifted after PJM overhauled its…