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Charlotte County planners recommend edits to draft solar policy, leave development cap to supervisors
Summary
At an April 25, 2023 work session, the Charlotte County Planning Commission reviewed a Berkley Group draft solar policy and by consensus recommended edits on buffers, setbacks, wildlife-corridor language and property uses; the commission deferred a countywide development-cap decision to the Board of Supervisors.
Chairman Andrew Carwile called the Charlotte County Planning Commission to order on April 25, 2023, for a work session on a draft solar policy presented by Michael Zehner of the Berkley Group. The Commission reviewed the draft that followed earlier input from February work sessions and provided a set of consensus recommendations for revisions.
Commissioners asked for clarity about future solar capacity and recommended the draft explicitly address total megawatts required under the Virginia Clean Economy Act to ground county planning assumptions. On buffer requirements, commissioners agreed the comprehensive plan should remain general; they recommended removing numeric buffer widths from the policy and instead requiring “sufficient screening,” with specific dimensions to be established in the county zoning ordinance.
The Berkley Group told commissioners small projects might not require wildlife corridors; the Commission recommended changing the draft language from “should be incorporated” to “will be evaluated” and discussed the possibility of a minimum project-size threshold. On setbacks, commissioners by consensus recommended removing specific setback widths from the policy and stating that setbacks must be consistent with the County’s zoning ordinance regulations.
Commissioners were split over a proposal to set a countywide solar development limit. Staff explained that a 3% countywide cap would allow roughly 1,330 acres of additional solar development, while a 5% cap would permit nearly double the currently approved area—about 7,400 additional acres. Because the Commission was divided, members agreed the Board of Supervisors should make the final determination on any percentage-based cap.
The Commission also recommended adding “other uses” to lists of potential property uses in Application Review Criteria #8 and in Objective 2, Strategy 3 to preserve flexibility for ancillary or dual-use activities on solar sites. Michael Zehner said he would incorporate the Commission’s recommended changes into the draft policy and provide the updated version to county staff for review and comment. The work session was then adjourned.
Next steps: staff will review the revised draft provided by the Berkley Group, and the Board of Supervisors will be asked to decide the countywide development limit.
