Board approves Red Brick Solar siting agreement, adopts $25,000/megawatt solar compensation policy
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Summary
The Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors approved a siting agreement and conditional use permit for Red Brick Solar, LLC and unanimously adopted a policy requiring solar developers to pay $25,000 per megawatt in addition to annual revenue-share payments.
The Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors on June 9 approved a siting agreement and a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for Red Brick Solar, LLC and adopted a county policy requiring additional developer compensation for solar projects.
During a public hearing, opponents including Judy Brothers and John Janson spoke against the project, while Malcolm Bailey and Robert Hawthorne spoke in favor. Attorney John Puvak, representing Red Brick Solar, told the board the developer was prepared to move forward and that the next step would be filing for Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) approval.
County Attorney Frank Rennie outlined CUP conditions the board accepted: construction hours limited to 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., a three‑day exception for transformer construction, prohibition on delivery vehicles during school-bus travel times on school days, requirements that delivery vehicles use main county routes and may deliver Monday through Saturday, and provisions addressing erosion and sediment control and road maintenance and repair after construction.
Separately, the Finance Committee, represented in the meeting by Supervisor T. Wayne Hoover, recommended and the board unanimously adopted a financial compensation policy for solar projects. The policy requires developers to pay $25,000 per megawatt in addition to any annual revenue‑share payments. Payment is structured in three installments: one‑third within 60 days of Board approval of the CUP, one‑third at issuance of a building permit, and one‑third within 90 days after commencement of commercial operations. The policy also requires a building permit fee to cover county administrative costs and an escrow amount to cover third‑party consultant and operational expenses during construction.
Chairman Charles R. Slayton disclosed a conflict of interest for the Red Brick item and abstained from the vote; the record shows six supervisors voted yes, none voted no, and Slayton abstained.
The board’s approvals allow the project to proceed to state-level permitting and to local building-permit steps subject to the conditions and payment schedule adopted by the board.