Tazewell commission recommends county comprehensive plan, sets joint public hearing on solar ordinance
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Summary
The Tazewell County Planning Commission voted Jan. 11 to recommend the county Comprehensive Plan to the Board of Supervisors and scheduled a joint public hearing on a proposed Solar Energy Facilities Ordinance and Solar Facility Siting Agreement for Jan. 23 at Nuckolls Hall.
The Tazewell County Planning Commission voted unanimously Jan. 11 to recommend the county Comprehensive Plan to the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors and set a joint public hearing on a proposed Solar Energy Facilities Ordinance and a Solar Facility Siting Agreement for Jan. 23 at Nuckolls Hall.
The commission approved the recommendation by motion of Vice-Chairman Robert "Bob" Moss, seconded by Member Jason Herndon, with the recorded vote 6 to 0 and Member Lance Wimmer absent. Director of County Engineering Kenneth Dunford told members the Comprehensive Plan will serve as the county’s guide for the next six years and is relied upon by the Virginia Department of Transportation for road-related decisions.
Why it matters: the Comprehensive Plan guides land-use, transportation and infrastructure decisions and shapes how the county reviews development proposals. The scheduled joint public hearing will allow public comment and testimony before the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission consider ordinance language specific to solar energy facilities.
County Attorney Chase Collins summarized state legislation affecting utility-scale renewable projects, saying the bills would let large applicants for projects such as solar facilities of at least 50 megawatts apply to the State Corporation Commission under certain conditions if a locality fails to act or denies an otherwise qualifying application. Collins relayed a quote attributed in the material he read to Sen. Creigh Deeds: "This is the development of sufficient energy so that we have reliable, affordable, safe energy, and we're reducing carbon at the same time. You know, it is in the interest of every single Virginian. It's a Virginia issue. It's a statewide issue." Collins presented the summary as context for the commission and the upcoming hearing.
During citizen comments, Robert Carlson introduced a Virginia Tech safety report on solar panels and asked that it be attached to the meeting minutes; Collins asked that the report be attached.
Next steps: the Board of Supervisors recessed its January meeting and will meet jointly with the Planning Commission at 6:00 p.m. Jan. 23 at Nuckolls Hall for the public hearing on the Solar Energy Facilities Ordinance and Solar Facility Siting Agreement. The Planning Commission’s formal recommendation of the Comprehensive Plan will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors for its consideration.