Lunenburg planning commission unanimously recommends approval of 60 MW Wheelhouse Solar with conditions

The Lunenburg County Planning Commission on May 16 unanimously recommended the Board of Supervisors approve a conditional-use permit for Wheelhouse Solar to build a 60-megawatt utility-scale solar array on nine parcels totaling 676 acres west-northwest of the Town of Victoria.

The commission’s recommendation followed a presentation by Garrett Weeks of Palladium Energy, several public speakers who voiced support, a staff report from Lindsay Edwards of the Berkley Group, and a legal review of permit conditions by Assistant County Attorney Drew DiStanislao. The commission voted 7-0 to send the application to the Board with the conditions read into the record.

Weeks, a Palladium Energy representative working on the Wheelhouse Solar project, outlined the project scope, timeline and mitigation measures. He told commissioners the piles left in the ground would be concrete rather than steel and that the company expected periodic evaluations of the decommissioning bond. “It is not the steel piles, it is the concrete piles,” Weeks said when asked about pile materials and decommissioning procedures.

Public comment at the hearing was uniformly supportive; speakers included Blake Cox, Lane Gunn and Dana Bacon, and the record lists letters of support from several residents. Lindsay Edwards summarized staff options for the commission — to recommend approval with conditions, deny, or defer — and recommended consideration of the conditions outlined by county counsel.

DiStanislao read a set of recommended conditions the county would attach to a favorable recommendation. They included a requirement that the applicant retain an independent licensed contractor to evaluate any property damage and proposed remedies; a limit that only 80 acres may be disturbed at one time with disturbed land stabilized and reseeded before additional clearing; erosion- and sediment-control measures to minimize disturbance of steep slopes; and a prohibition on creating permanent slopes greater than 8 percent. The attorney also emphasized topsoil must remain within the perimeter and be used for stabilization and pollinator habitat, warning that removal of topsoil from the project area would be grounds for permit revocation under Section 8-9 of the county zoning ordinance.

The conditions set setbacks of at least 200 feet from the centerline of adjoining public rights-of-way and property lines and at least 400 feet from residential structures on adjacent parcels. They also required 50-foot setbacks from the 100-year floodplain and exterior waterways, 50-foot riparian buffers for waterways interior to the project area, and 50-foot setbacks from permanent sediment or drainage ponds as required by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. DiStanislao also said the applicant must coordinate with local emergency services and satisfy indemnification requirements.

On broadband, the county attorney said the permit language would require the developer to notify the county if it installs fiber and to assist in deployment of broadband to property owners along any route the applicant constructs, pursuant to Virginia Code section 15.2-2316.7(B) and terms in the project’s siting agreement.

Commissioners expressed support for the project’s buffering, the conditions addressing erosion and topsoil, and the limited number of landowners involved. Commissioner Thompson moved to recommend approval with conditions; Commissioner Shell seconded. Roll-call statements recorded each commissioner’s support; the motion passed unanimously.

Clerk Taylor N. Newton told the commission the application will go before the Board of Supervisors on June 8, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. in the Lunenburg Courts Building. The commission set its next meeting for June 1, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. and adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

Actions taken at the meeting do not yet authorize construction; the Board of Supervisors must act on CUP 8-22 before any permit is issued.