Caroline County planning commission approves 2 MW Preston Community solar site plan with conditions

The Caroline County Planning Commission voted to approve the final site plan for the Preston Community Solar Project, a 2-megawatt alternating-current community solar array sited on roughly 12.45 acres of an 85.35-acre parcel near the town of Preston.

Commission Chairman Jeff Jackson moved that the commission approve the final site plan “with the conditions, as stated by the BZA, which is hours of operation and that they complete their State Highway requirements,” and the motion passed with no recorded opposition.

Why it matters: The project will participate in Maryland’s permanent community solar program and feed into the local distribution system, allowing local customers to subscribe and receive bill discounts. The approval advances a renewable-energy project that developers say will have minimal traffic and no need for public water or sewer services.

What the commission heard and required: Planning staff told the commission the Board of Zoning Appeals had earlier approved the project’s special-use exception and attached conditions requiring that the final site plan package include the BZA materials. Staff noted three outstanding items that typically must be provided after Planning Commission approval but before permits are issued: a landscape-maintenance agreement, financial security for the landscape-cost estimate, and financial security for the decommissioning plan.

Ted Hastings, senior associate with Becker Morgan Group, summarized project engineering and permitting for the applicant and described the facility as “a 2 megawatt AC in size,” sited well back from the road. He said the array will be set on driven posts (no concrete foundations), will be buffered with landscaping, and that fencing with mesh will be installed while plantings mature.

State Highway Administration comments remain outstanding. Staff and the applicant said the project team will resubmit revised entrance/roadway materials to the State Highway Administration; the commission made entrance/State Highway approval a condition of permitting. The BZA’s operating-hour condition—intended to limit construction noise—was restated: stake-driving and related work is to occur between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with general construction hours aligning roughly to 7 a.m.–7 p.m. Monday–Friday and more limited hours on Saturdays.

Decommissioning and financial assurances: The applicant described its decommissioning plan as based on vendor quotes and industry catalogs and said it had sought multiple vendor price points to estimate current costs. Planning staff retained as outstanding the requirement that financial security for decommissioning be provided before permits are issued.

Utility interconnection and customer participation: The applicant said the project will interconnect to the existing three-phase distribution line on the adjacent road through a short pole connection and utility-owned gear; Delmarva Power had completed interconnection studies and provided an interconnection agreement, the applicant said. The project will be offered to local customers through Maryland’s community solar program; the applicant reported a program rule that up to 40% of subscribers may be lower- or moderate-income customers, if needed.

The vote and next steps: The commission approved the final site plan with the conditions described above and instructed staff to track the remaining items. The applicant must provide required financial securities and a landscape-maintenance agreement and must obtain State Highway Administration entrance approval before the county will issue building permits.