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Planning commission approves special-use permit for biochar facility near Delano
Summary
Tulare County Planning Commission approved a special-use permit for a biochar manufacturing facility to convert almond shells to biochar and renewable energy on a portion of a Delano-area parcel; staff cited CEQA Class 29 exemption and emissions controls.
The Tulare County Planning Commission voted to conditionally approve Special Use Permit PSP25-033 for a biochar facility proposed near Delano, approving a categorical exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the county zoning conditions. The motion passed 6–0 with one commissioner absent.
The project site is at 2115 Road 144, about two miles north of County Line Road and roughly a half-mile east of State Route 99, on a 39.91-acre parcel. The applicant proposes to locate the facility on a 5-acre portion of that parcel. The proposal calls for a roughly 20,000-square-foot metal building, a 6,50[0]-square-foot entry canopy, a 2,500-square-foot receiving canopy and additional pump/guard structures for a total of about 23,150 square feet of covered area as presented by county staff.
Planning staff described the proposal as an installation of three continuous slow-pyrolysis reactors to manufacture biochar from almond shell byproduct produced at the adjacent Treehouse Almonds huller and from contracted regional shellers. The applicant and staff…
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