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Commission continues solar facility study; members discuss acreage limits, buffers and enforcement
Summary
During Old Business the commission continued a Solar Facility Study, discussing potential acreage caps (example: 500 acres), a "fair share" calculation tied to county electricity use, slope/runoff, DEQ regulatory language for enforcement, topography differences, buffer retention during clearing, fee schedules and the potential need for a battery storage ordinance. Chair emphasized the pause is not a moratorium.
The Lunenburg County Planning Commission spent a portion of its Oct. 5 meeting on its Solar Facility Study, continuing a discussion that focuses on how the county should approach large-scale solar projects and what provisions a solar ordinance should include.
Commissioners identified several areas of concern and possible ordinance language: loss of agricultural land and open space; protection of water resources; limiting project size (members discussed considering a cap around 500 acres as an example); establishing a "fair share" approach by calculating county electricity consumption and allocating a proportion of generation capacity accordingly; setting density standards; and defining slope and runoff protections to avoid erosion and impacts to adjacent properties.
Members also raised enforcement and regulatory questions, including whether language referencing Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regulations should be added to local ordinance text to enable county enforcement when state oversight is lacking; the possible use of third-party review services; and whether a separate battery storage ordinance is needed. Clerk Taylor N. King clarified the commission’s current position as a pause, not a moratorium, on new solar approvals while the study and ordinance language are refined.
No formal ordinance was adopted; the commission continued the study and identified topics for staff to address in future drafts.
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