Charlotte County supervisors review comprehensive-plan updates as debate arises over 5% solar acreage cap
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Summary
Regional planners presented updates to Charlotte County's five-year Comprehensive Plan, including a Planning Commission recommendation to cap total fenced acreage for solar development at 5% of the county's land area (divided by project-size tiers). Supervisor Hazel Bowman Smith said any cap should be set by ordinance rather than placed in the plan.
At a Dec. 11 work session, the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors received an update on a draft Comprehensive Plan that regional planners said reflects new mapping and data and recommends limits on large-scale solar development.
Todd Fortune, deputy director for the Commonwealth Regional Council, told the board the plan undergoes review every five years and that this assessment began in January 2021 with the Planning Commission; community meetings began in January 2022 and citizen surveys were distributed in April and May 2022.
The draft, Fortune said, adds expanded transportation data from VDOT, more local mapping including electric utility coverage areas and heritage-trail stops, updated school accreditation figures from the Virginia Department of Education, sub-watershed and flood-zone mapping, and specific data about the county's Amish community drawn from The Diary (an Amish newspaper) and a self-survey. Fortune also cited Census data showing just under 9% of county residents work from home, which the transcript notes is the third-highest rate in Virginia.
Fortune said the Land Use section now includes zoning-conflict considerations, water source protection and expanded language on solar energy. He said solar energy is addressed in multiple parts of the draft (Land Use; Special Policy Areas; and Goals, Objectives and Strategies) and that The Berkley Group helped develop the solar-related language.
Reporting the Planning Commission's recommendation, Fortune said the commission proposed a 5% cap on total fenced acreage for solar development across the county, allocated across three size tiers: fenced acreage for projects 100 megawatts and above would be limited to no more than 3.5% of the county's total land area; projects at least 5 MW but less than 100 MW would be limited to 0.75%; and projects at least 1 MW but less than 5 MW would be limited to 0.75%.
Supervisor Walter T. Bailey confirmed the plan's inclusion of Amish community data and suggested adding Chase City and Campbell County airports to the plan's mapping.
Supervisor Hazel Bowman Smith disagreed with placing a solar-development cap in the Comprehensive Plan, saying a comprehensive plan should remain general and, if a cap is to be imposed, it should be established by ordinance. Bailey suggested the board have County Attorney Slayton review the document to determine next steps. The board adjourned with no formal vote recorded on the plan or the recommended cap.
The county will determine whether to seek legal guidance and how to proceed with the Planning Commission's recommendation; no ordinance, motion or formal vote was recorded at the work session.