Charlotte County board denies Lavender Solar conditional use permit after cemetery, density and safety concerns

The Charlotte County Board of Supervisors voted to deny a conditional use permit for the proposed Lavender Solar facility after hearing hours of public comment and staff analysis. The project, proposed as a roughly 5‑megawatt solar generation facility on two parcels totaling about 61 acres (approximately 53 acres inside the fenced footprint), drew sustained opposition from residents and a recommendation for denial from county planning staff.

Staff and the applicant presented technical studies and recommended conditions. County staff noted the project would connect to the grid via Dominion Energy infrastructure and said current mapping showed portions of the project adjacent to Mount Lyell Cemetery. Staff recommended increased buffer conditions — including a 75‑foot fence setback and a 50‑foot wide pedestrian access corridor to preserve cemetery access — and limited ingress/egress to Thomas Jefferson Highway (Route 47). Planning‑commission members had previously recommended denial, citing density and impacts.

Speakers representing neighbors, local preservationists and genealogical researchers told the board they were concerned about the cemetery’s boundaries, the accuracy of developer maps and a boundary‑line agreement recorded July 9, 2024. “Shame on Mr. Elder and Lavender Solar for taking advantage of a small black church in this way,” said Kathy Liston, who testified that cemetery mapping and deed descriptions were inconsistent and that recorded surveys favored a nearby landowner. Other public commenters raised traffic safety on Route 47 and Tower Loop Road, slope and runoff impacts on springs and streams, and property‑value losses.

Developer representatives, including counsel and project engineers, said they had completed cultural resource assessments, cemetery delineation work, multiple title searches and boundary surveys and had recorded a boundary line agreement. The developer agreed to many staff‑recommended conditions, saying they had increased the direct vegetation buffer around the cemetery to 75 feet, would expand a 25‑foot roadside buffer to 100 feet along Tower Loop Road, and would limit project components within 400 feet of Thomas Jefferson Highway except at minimal interconnection points. The developer also proposed voluntary payments intended to benefit the county and local stakeholders.

Board members weighed those technical mitigations against the planning commission’s analysis that the stacked fenced acreage already within a 5‑mile radius of the site exceeded the county’s 3% cap on utility‑scale solar density (staff reported roughly 2,299 acres within the five‑mile radius, or about 4.57%). After discussion, Supervisor Carlisle moved to deny the CUP consistent with the planning commission recommendation. A substitute motion to approve failed, and the board voted to deny the permit.

The denial preserves the planning commission’s conclusion that the proposed use would exceed local density limits and could not be adequately mitigated near Mount Lyell Cemetery. The board recorded the motion and vote during the regular meeting following the public hearing. The developer and applicants said they will consider next steps; the record includes staff‑provided conditions in case the board had chosen approval with conditions.

Procedural note: the record includes a planning‑commission vote to deny at its July 18, 2024 meeting (5–2 with four members absent) and the staff report and supporting studies filed in the county packet. The board’s action was a denial of the CUP application; no permit or siting agreement was granted for Lavender Solar at this meeting.