Shenandoah County approves Old Valley Solar project with buffer and grazing conditions
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Summary
The Board of Supervisors approved a special-use permit for the Old Valley Solar Project (5 MW shared-solar) with modified conditions: evergreen buffers raised from an initial 4-foot stock to at least 6 feet and a grazing plan to be developed in consultation with the Virginia Cooperative Extension; the applicant offered a one-time $200,000 payment to the county.
The Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 10 approved a special-use permit for the Old Valley Solar Project, a proposed 5-megawatt shared-solar installation sited largely on a former landfill off Landfill Road.
Kara Romaine, the project manager, said the project is intended to participate in Virginia's shared-solar program and could serve up to about 1,000 homes, including a state-mandated 30 percent carve-out for low- to moderate-income customers. Romaine said the project team conducted community engagement, performed a balloon test to study visual impacts, proposed additional buffer plantings along visible edges, outlined access and electrical connections, and offered a one-time $200,000 payment to Shenandoah County to support capital improvements if the county agrees to temporary construction and electrical easements.
Board members focused on three implementation details during the discussion: the size and speed-to-coverage of the proposed vegetative buffer, terms of the grazing plan the applicant proposed to host, and the project's footprint relative to nearby land uses. The planning commission had recommended approval with conditions; supervisors amended two conditions before voting.
Supervisor Johnson moved to approve the special-use permit using the later set of conditions (items 1'10) with two changes: require evergreen buffer plantings with a minimum initial stock height of 6 feet (rather than 4 feet) in special condition 8, and revise special condition 9 so the grazing plan "shall be developed in consultation with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service." The applicant told the board it would work with staff on site-plan details and had identified access options through a railroad corridor and a lease with the Matthews family if needed.
After public comments and board discussion, the motion passed on a roll-call vote recorded in the transcript as 6-0.
The approved permit includes conditions on site disturbance, buffers, visual mitigation and an agricultural/grazing plan; it also notes the applicant's proposed $200,000 offer to the county for capital improvements. Implementation tasks identified by the board include finalizing buffer species and staggered plantings, clarifying grazing plan implementation (including extension-service involvement), and completing administrative site-plan reviews before construction begins.
