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Commission to hold public hearing on agrivoltaics definition after debate over pollinator language
Summary
Following changes in the Code of Virginia (HB 508), the Planning Commission agreed July 8 to send a county zoning-text amendment that adopts the state definition of agrivoltaics to public hearing; commissioners raised questions about whether the county should or could preserve prior local 'pollinator‑friendly' language and how enforcement would work.
The Rockbridge County Planning Commission voted July 8 to take a zoning text amendment implementing the state’s uniform definition of agrivoltaics to public hearing on August 12, and agreed to place related solar‑ordinance revisions on the same agenda after staff said the solar item had not been advertised.
Staff told the commission that House Bill 508, approved April 6, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, establishes a statewide definition for agrivoltaics (small renewable‑energy projects). Commissioners said the county’s earlier local language had explicitly referenced pollinator‑friendly habitat, and debated whether the new statewide definition should replace the local text or whether pollinator provisions should remain in the solar ordinance. “I don’t think the current…would include pollinator‑friendly habitat,” staff said, noting the county’s solar ordinance already contains pollinator language but the agrivoltaics definition has been narrowed by state law.
Commissioners asked practical questions about verification and enforcement over a solar project’s lifetime — for example, whether claims of agricultural production, honey production or grazing would be enforceable conditions. One commissioner said meeting the state definition would make it difficult for the county to disallow an applicant that otherwise met statutory criteria, while others urged careful cross‑checking of all local code references before adopting the change.
Because staff failed to advertise the solar‑ordinance public hearing for the night, the commission moved both the agrivoltaics definition and the solar ordinance revisions to the August 12 planning commission public hearing so they can be considered together. The motion passed unanimously.
