Board approves two small solar projects after mixed public response

The Nottoway County Board of Supervisors approved special exceptions for two C Solar distribution-scale projects — Little Mountain and Sunnyside — after public hearings on July 16. Paul Cousins, senior project development manager for C Solar, described each site as a roughly three-megawatt, distribution-level facility that would not require a substation or battery storage. He told the board the projects "will be operated completely remotely" and that decommissioning would be covered by a county-held bond updated every five years.

Cousins also offered voluntary community benefits and a one-time conditional contribution of $35,000 per project to the county at site-plan approval. He said the company had conducted neighbor outreach and received letters of support, including from local volunteer fire departments and the Virginia Association of Workers for the Blind. "We are in a study process right now with Dominion," Cousins said about interconnection work with the utility.

Opposition came mainly from adjacent landowners and others who cited cumulative siting on Mallerie Creek, potential traffic and the condition of Old Plank Road. Board members and staff noted that VDOT-like review (referred to in meeting materials as VOTE) requires sight-distance easements or construction-management plans before permitting. Engineer Ellen Tusing of Kimley Horn said the team had a "path forward" for sight-distance and stormwater controls, and that VDOT conditions must be satisfied before construction permits will be issued.

The board's approvals included explicit conditions: site-distance easements and a construction management plan to VDOT standards, wetland/stormwater mitigation requirements, and the developer's decommissioning/resubmission commitment. The motions carried after roll-call votes; planning commission had earlier recommended approval with unanimous votes. The board emphasized that rezoning and special-exception approval do not guarantee final permits; state permitting and utility interconnection remain required steps.