Caroline County adopts zoning changes to regulate solar and energy storage facilities

The Caroline County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously (6-0) to adopt text amendment 03-2026, which updates the county zoning ordinance to address solar energy and energy storage facilities.

Planning staff member Max Hughes reviewed the draft changes and said staff added definitions for batteries and energy storage systems and broadened the substation definition to cover facilities "together with its associated equipment, structures, and enclosures" rather than limiting it only to electrical installations. Hughes said the updates also incorporate planning commission recommendations and board comments from earlier meetings.

Board members debated several practical elements of the ordinance, including notification, monitoring, technical standards and decommissioning security. On procedure, Supervisors settled on requiring notice to property owners within 0.5 mile of a project’s property edge plus a countywide general announcement (paper of general circulation and county website/Carolina Alert). Chair (speaker 1) summarized that approach as "0.5 mile from the property edge" and a general county announcement for the public.

The formal motion to adopt the amendment was made by Supervisor Seeley (speaker 2) and seconded; the ordinance passed with a recorded unanimous vote, announced as "Unanimous. 6 0." The ordinance includes the planning commission and board recommendations discussed during the meeting.

Board members thanked planning staff and the county attorney for the expedited work to meet the General Assembly’s timeline. The board recessed at the end of the meeting and scheduled a work session with the schools for July 29 at 6 p.m.

Provenance: topic introduced in staff briefing and discussion (staff summary and debate), topic finish at the adoption vote.

Speakers (attributions used in this article): Hughes (speaker 3, staff member), Supervisor Seeley (speaker 2), Chair (speaker 1), Mister Black (speaker 6).