Residents, planners urge Washington County to retain special-review process for solar projects

Dozens of residents and local planning professionals told the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission that a proposed change to the county's solar ordinance would remove key protections and allow large solar installations to proceed with too little local review.

"They unequivocally said we do not want solar in Washington County," resident William Bish told the board during public comment, summarizing the sentiment heard across multiple speakers. Bish criticized the draft for eliminating slope limits, surety bonds for grading and decommissioning, and county remuneration language that he said deprived the county of protections.

A former zoning official and certified planner, Emma Wyatt, urged the county to retain its special-exception permit process rather than treat 8.5-acre sites as a by-right use. "The proposal to allow 8.5 acre solar developments as a by right development type, bypassing the special use permit process poses significant risks," she said, citing USDA figures that show 13% of county farms are between 1 and 9 acres and warning of potential loss of agricultural land.

Other speakers urged technical changes: Amy Venable recommended increasing setbacks to 300 feet, tightening inverter-noise limits to background plus 3 dBA (or 40 dBA maximum at the property boundary), and requiring vegetative screening with 80% opacity to 10 feet within four growing seasons. Multiple commenters also urged restoring slope restrictions and an engineer-prepared land-disturbance plan requirement.

Speakers framed the debate as both local-control and land-preservation issues. "We don't want those ugly things over there," resident Eric McReynolds said, adding that many residents view commercial-scale solar as industrial intrusion on farming and scenic landscapes. Several speakers also linked the recent solar push to data-center demand rather than local electricity needs.

The speakers' remarks closed with a common request: keep the special-exception or public-review mechanism in place so neighbors can participate in siting decisions and the county can require decommissioning and financial sureties.

Washington County staff and the Planning Commission heard the public comments during the meeting and acknowledged the breadth of concern; the commission later recommended a workshop to reexamine the draft ordinance.