Dorchester County planning panel recommends approval for community solar site plan, several variances and a mineral-extraction special exception

The Dorchester County Planning Commission on an undisclosed meeting date returned and ultimately recommended approval for a community solar final site plan for a project identified as PO case 2804 and issued favorable recommendations to the Board of Appeals on multiple variance and special-exception requests, including a mineral-extraction request from Lakewood Ventures LLC.

The most contested item was PO case 2804, a community solar site plan presented by a representative of the project owner (Halo Purlock Property LLC). The project is described as a 2-megawatt, single-axis tracking community solar installation with limits of disturbance of 12.08 acres and an overall leased area of about 16.33 acres. Brennan Malaney McAllister, representative for the applicant, said the project is expected to serve about 250 average residences and said, “the anticipated savings over the life of project for each one of those is $6,269,” which he described as the low-range guaranteed savings for subscribers; he also cited a median savings estimate of roughly $9,400 per household over the life of the project. The applicant said the project will include a decommissioning plan and surety, a security fence required by electrical code, and planting of screening buffers (a mix of deciduous and coniferous species including white oak, sweetgum, red maple, red cedar, white pine, pinkberry and witch hazel) with…