Supervisors authorize county administrator to negotiate Dominion Energy ground lease for closed landfill solar project

The James City County Board of Supervisors voted to authorize the county administrator to enter into a ground-lease agreement with Dominion Energy for a proposed solar facility at the county's closed landfill at 1206 Jolly Pond Road.

Assistant County Attorney Andrew Dean told the board the negotiations center on a roughly 60-to-80 acre project footprint on the county's roughly 545-acre parcel, with the solar array sited on the capped landfill area. "The lease does attempt to give Dominion some flexibility during the initial phases of the lease to determine the feasibility of the proposed use while the county continues to have uninterrupted control of and use over the parcel," Dean said. He said the lease has multiple phases: an initial feasibility and development period during which Dominion may perform noninvasive testing and due diligence, and later phases that define the final leased area and construction rights only after the county grants a special-use permit and approves a site plan.

Board members asked for clarification on how the solar structures would be sited. Staff said the intention discussed with Dominion was to place panels on structures that sit on top of the capped landfill to avoid disturbing the cap. The lease as presented includes a development/due-diligence period that staff described as lasting up to four years; if Dominion proceeds and wins a special-use permit, the full lease term thereafter could extend for multiple decades (staff cited a maximum possible term discussed in negotiations).

During public comment, Chris Henderson, a resident, said the proposed lease terms appeared low relative to market rents and raised concerns about the county accepting liability if future landfill work required removal of equipment. "If you have a problem on that landfill and the DEQ requires you to open up cells and extract material then you're gonna owe Dominion Energy a lot of money because you're gonna have to remove their equipment," he said. Henderson urged the board to consider alternative uses such as passive parkland and questioned the long-term waste and disposal implications for solar panels.

Supervisors voted to approve the resolution authorizing the county administrator to enter the lease negotiations. The roll call recorded one "no" vote from Ms. Knoll; the remaining supervisors voted in favor.

Staff said future steps include Dominion's feasibility work, a special-use permit process, a site plan review and a later, specific lease area selection if the project moves forward.