Howard County hearing concludes on 12.3-acre Walnut Creek solar conditional use; decision forthcoming

The Howard County Hearing Examiner concluded an evidentiary hearing July 17 on a conditional-use request (case BA24-O21C) for a 12.3-acre commercial solar facility proposed on a county-owned septic-reserve parcel at 12320 Autumn Tree Lane in Clarksville.

The petitioner, identified in the hearing as KDC Solar Walnut Creek (now associated with CI Renewables), asked the hearing examiner to approve the conditional use despite new state legislation the attorney for the project said could allow projects that meet certain standards to be approved as a by-right use. "There has been new state law ... that allows solar of the size that we're offering here to be approved as a permitted use as a by right use," attorney Tom Cole said, adding the petitioner preferred to seek conditional-use approval so it could maintain a 50-foot setback and secure relief on landscaping requirements.

Why it matters: the parcel is owned by Howard County and is designated as a septic reserve for the Walnut Creek subdivision; approving a solar facility on county property and on a septic-reserve site raises land-use and interagency-approval issues that the Hearing Examiner and county departments reviewed during the hearing.

Key facts and testimony

- Site and proposal: Paul Sill of Sill Engineering Group testified that the parcel at the end of Autumn Tree Lane is a septic-reserve parcel within a 45-acre parent parcel and that the proposed solar array would occupy about 12.3 acres…