Albemarle Planning Commission backs commercial solar zoning changes after lengthy debate, with caveats

The Albemarle County Planning Commission voted Jan. 14 to recommend a zoning-text amendment that creates a comprehensive local framework for solar-energy facilities and battery storage, but members attached a cautionary note about a provision allowing 21-acre panel zones by right in rural areas.

The draft ordinance, presented by Bill Fritz of the county's Community Development Department, establishes definitions and supplemental standards for solar energy facilities, accessory installations, battery storage, screening, setbacks, and decommissioning. Fritz told the commission the code regulates by panel-zone area rather than production, arguing that land area better captures visual and land‑use impacts than megawatt ratings.

"The amount of land used for solar production is more important than the efficiency of the panels and equipment," Fritz said in his presentation, explaining the staff rationale for measuring facility size by panel zone.

County staff and consultant Lindsay Edwards (The Berkeley Group) described the draft as a best-practices package that: allows small rooftop or parking-canopy systems by right; permits limited ground-mounted accessory solar up to 500 square feet; allows larger commercial systems in rural areas by right up to the panel-zone threshold; and subjects larger or more complex projects to special‑use permit review with…