Commission approves sketch plan recommendation for 3-MW Carrysbrook solar project, with conditions
Loading...
Summary
The Planning Commission voted to forward SDP 24-09, a sketch plan for a 3-megawatt ground-mounted solar facility on about 27 acres of a 361.3-acre parcel, subject to recommended site-plan conditions and standard permits; the project’s special-use permit was approved in 2021 and staff said the project is grandfathered under that SUP.
The Fluvanna County Planning Commission on Jan. 14 approved forwarding SDP 24-09, a sketch plan for a 3-megawatt ground-mounted solar facility on roughly 27 acres of a 361.3-acre parcel (tax map 42-1-1), with the commission’s recommended conditions attached.
Planning staff said the site-development sketch is for a utility-scale solar facility proposed by SunTribe Solar (packet references SunTrust/SunTribe and Carrysbrook/CarriSWIP spellings in the staff report). Staff reiterated that a special-use permit (SUP) for a utility-scale solar facility on the parcel was approved in November 2021 and that the SUP’s conditions remain applicable; the county removed the SUP allowance for such facilities in July 2024, so this project is treated as a grandfathered use under the earlier permit.
Staff summarized key SUP and recommended site-plan conditions, which include construction limited to Monday–Saturday sunrise to sunset; submission of a traffic-management plan for VDOT and county review; a site parking and staging plan as part of the site development plan; dust and erosion control measures; a minimum 50-foot setback from public rights-of-way and from agricultural/residential zoned property; a 25-foot vegetated buffer using double staggered rows of evergreen trees planted 10 feet on center; requirements for adequate access, culverts and turning space for emergency vehicles; training or educational materials for emergency responders about the site; and submission of a decommissioning plan for county approval prior to issuance of building permits.
In public comment, resident Patricia Beers Bloch said the site-plan packet contained a sentence that read “SUP for the facility was approved prior to the changes to [county] code in 2024” but the write-up did not conclude whether the facility is a nonconforming use; she urged the commission to address that point at the relevant agenda item. Staff later confirmed the SUP was approved in 2021 and that the project is grandfathered under that prior approval. The developer’s representative, Tom Paquette, told commissioners the array is sited outside the 100-year floodplain and that project permitting includes a floodplain-permitting review for access roads.
A motion to send SDP 24-09 (Carrysbrook Solar) forward with the recommended conditions carried after a motion and second; the chair announced the motion approved.
Why it matters: the approved sketch plan represents a utility-scale solar development on agricultural land that previously received an SUP; the conditions and required permits cited by staff are intended to limit traffic, visual and construction impacts and to ensure emergency access and decommissioning planning.
The project will advance to the site-development-plan stage with the conditions in place; permits and additional technical reviews (floodplain permits, Department of Health permits if a well or pump-and-haul system is proposed) remain required before construction.
