On Tuesday at 7 p.m. the Augusta County Planning Commission will consider Augusta Solar, a large solar project in the Lyndhurst and Stuarts Draft area of the South River Magisterial District. This is an opportunity to voice support for a good solar project that could enhance our community.
Tuesday’s planning commission meeting is part of the county’s two-step process for large solar project applications.
➡️ Step 1: Determination of whether the project is in “substantial accord” with Augusta’s comprehensive plan, i.e. the county’s official vision for land use decision-making.
➡️ Step 2: Regardless of whether the planning commission finds that the project meets the comp plan vision of the county, the project will go before the board of supervisors sometime this summer seeking approval for a permit.
On Tuesday, we need your support for Step 1.
Augusta Solar is a 90-megawatt project on 470 fenced in acres, 114 acres of which will have 9-foot tall solar panels. The 114 acres of panels are to be spread out over six pods, all with significant setbacks from the neighbors and screened with substantial vegetative buffering to protect and enhance the area’s rural viewshed.
We believe this project checks all the boxes for a good solar project and is in accord with the comp plan.
(view map)
Attend the Planning Commission Meeting
Tuesday, May 14
7 p.m.
County Government Center, Verona
(directions)
Why? It’s a great location for a solar project for starters. All of the parcels in this project are currently zoned agriculture. But the reality is that, because of their location in the higher growth areas of the county, should the landowners ever want to rezone and develop these parcels, the county, through the comp plan, says that it would welcome residential or industrial growth here—up to several thousand houses and several large factories.
Fortunately the comp plan’s purpose is to “inform the decision making process on rezoning and development applications.” In fact, the comp states that “The county’s scenic beauty and natural environment will be preserved with farms, forests, mountains, rivers and streams providing the framework and context for development in the urban areas.”
Think of Augusta Solar as a potential time capsule for the county, the community, and the landowners. Instead of houses or factories, this project could preserve the county’s open space.
The developer has carefully designed the project to minimize disruption to the rural viewshed that we all love and intends to construct and maintain the project in a way that could improve the soil and water resources. And, uniquely, the plan includes walking trails to provide new connections between area neighborhoods.
Further, once built, the project stands to contribute millions of dollars to the county coffers over its life [click here for the project economic analysis] without incurring the higher taxes associated with residential development to pay for for schools, emergency services or road improvements.
And, because the land won’t be rezoned, at the end of the 30-year project lease, all existing options remain for the landowners, including returning to more active farming if the project’s proposed best management practices are followed.