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Planning commission denies current solar text amendments, asks board for more time
Summary
Botetourt County planning commissioners unanimously recommended denial of the current draft solar zoning text and requested an extension to coordinate ordinance changes with comprehensive‑plan updates and additional review, citing state code changes and the need for more community input.
The Botetourt County Planning Commission voted unanimously on Aug. 10 to recommend denial of the draft solar text amendments and to ask the Board of Supervisors for more time to review both the zoning ordinance changes and related comprehensive‑plan updates.
John McCoy, planning staff, told the commission the board referred the text amendments with a 100‑day statutory review window and that the draft, prepared with the Berkeley Group, aligns many definitions and development standards to recent Virginia General Assembly code changes. McCoy recommended a denial to allow the commission more time to compile questions and feedback and then work with the consultants on revisions. “This is about as good as it's gonna get in 100 days,” McCoy said, noting staff’s intent to prepare a table showing which changes are mandated by state law and which remain under local control.
Commissioners and residents pressed for additional protections and clarity on several points: prohibiting siting on USDA‑defined prime farmland and highly erodible soils, stronger decommissioning and surety requirements, independent third‑party inspections, mitigation for wildlife corridors and clearer enforcement language tied to erosion and sediment controls. Farmer and soil scientist Tom Williamson urged technical soil safeguards and restoration protocols to ensure any decommissioning returns land to its prior condition.
The commission asked staff to prepare a baseline matrix for the next work session that separates mandatory state-driven changes from items the county can still control. Staff and commissioners agreed to hold extended work sessions in September and an iterative review ahead of the county’s comprehensive plan deadline. The denial will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors with the commission’s recommendation.
What happens next: staff will compile commissioner comments and produce the requested table and a proposed timeline for additional workshops; the ordinance and comp‑plan amendments remain under active review and may return to the commission for further edits before a final recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.
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