Amherst supervisors deny 5-MW solar project citing slope and watercourse concerns

The Amherst County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 19 voted to deny a special exception and a siting agreement for a proposed 5-megawatt solar facility being developed by 1 Energy Development LLC, upholding the planning commission's finding that the project was not substantially in accord with the county comprehensive plan.

The motion to deny, made by Supervisor Martin and approved by the board with one recorded no vote by Supervisor Drew Wade, covered the special exception (2025-115), the accompanying appeal under Virginia Code §15.2-2232, and the siting agreement (2025-348).

The decision came after a multi-hour public hearing in which county planning staff, the applicant and dozens of residents presented technical details, promises of community benefits and objections focused on grading, stormwater and viewshed impacts along the Buffalo River.

County planner Tyler Creasy outlined the request at the hearing: the site is a roughly 73-acre parcel identified as tax map 82-A-84A zoned A-1 (agriculture/residential). The applicant proposed to use approximately 20 acres for the fenced solar array, with a fixed-tilt array of about 12,000 panels and a maximum panel height of roughly 14 feet. Creasy said a major site plan and VDOT sign-off would be required before zoning permits, and that conditions would require a road maintenance plan and DEQ stormwater permitting.

Natalie Young, project manager for 1 Energy Development, told the board the project (referred to in application materials as Hizup Solar) had secured interconnection capacity with Appalachian Power Company and was designed to participate in APCo’s new shared-solar pilot. "The power that this project will produce is equivalent to the needs of approximately 1,200 average Virginia homes," Young said, adding the developer planned to seed the site with pollinator-friendly mixes and add roughly 21 evergreen trees per 100 linear feet in a 40-foot buffer. Young said the applicant offered a $100,000 upfront payment to the county as part of the siting agreement and proposed a priority registration period and an additional subscriber discount for Amherst residents in APCo’s shared-solar program.

Karen Cohen, legal counsel for the applicant with Gentry Locke, explained the state review the company had invoked. "It's not a it's not a lawsuit. It's not an action against the county or anything like that," Cohen said of the §15.2-2232 appeal process, and outlined how the statute requires a determination whether the facility's general location, character and extent are substantially in accord with the comprehensive plan. She noted the county’s zoning ordinance permits solar as a special exception in A-1 and that the ordinance sets size limits and buffering standards; she also described the revenue-share framework the county could use for compensation.

Multiple neighbors and technical speakers opposed the project or raised questions about its…