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CEP Solar doesn’t just want Prince Edward supervisors to consider their Green Bay project for approval. They want an appeal of the planning commission’s review. Both of those are scheduled to take place during the group’s Tuesday, June 10 meeting. 

Tyson Utt, the co-founder of CEP Solar, asked for the appeal in a March 27 letter. Earlier this year, the planning commission recommended approval of CEP’s Oak Lane solar project and recommended rejection of the proposed Green Bay solar site. 

Part of the issue doesn’t really involve the projects at all. Instead, it’s about how Prince Edward County deals with solar overall. The current comprehensive plan doesn’t mention it. There’s nothing in it to say how to deal with a project, where solar should or shouldn’t go. 

The revised version, currently being worked on, is expected to touch on it. But until that version is approved by county supervisors, some planning commission members feel like it’s a bit premature, bringing all of these solar projects up for discussion. 

The issue is that the planning commission, before recommending a project, has to rule and say they find the project to be in substantial accord with the county ordinances and comprehensive plan. How can you do that, some commission members argued in their earlier meeting, since the current plan doesn’t address solar at all? And yes, commission member Rhett Weiss said in the group’s March meeting, they have been dealing with solar for several years, but that doesn’t mean the county can’t slow down and wait for the revised plan to be finished. 

“If we’ve had the cart before the horse, do we keep it that way or turn it around?” Weiss said in that meeting. 

Utt argued that the planning commission had found that previous solar projects were “in accord” with the comprehensive plan. You don’t have to recommend denial for projects, he wrote, “just because the county’s comprehensive plan does not address solar facilities.” 

What do we know about Green Bay? 

Green Bay Solar would currently be on 67.8 acres, just off Route 360 near its intersection with Cheatham Road. Just like Oak Lane, it’s on land that’s primarily timber and pasture. 

But unlike the first one, the Green Bay project was flagged due to questions about potential development. Would it bring development to an area currently zoned for agriculture? And more than that, this property is not exactly flat. So what kind of damage might be done to the environment, people questioned in the planning commission hearing, as trees get cut down and the land is reworked to make it fit the project? And what kind of damage could that cause to other properties nearby?

One of the concerns involved what’s not yet known. CEP Solar doesn’t know where they’ll be buying their solar panels if this gets approved. They don’t know what those solar panels will be made of or where they will be made. Utt made the point this is still early in the process and different companies approach it in different ways. CEP decided not to get a master agreement in place for purchasing panels before getting the permit approved or rejected by Prince Edward County. 

The majority of concerns and people were the same as those from the opposition over Gabriel Solar. Some residents were worried about property values, while others were afraid it would affect their livestock. Patrick Murphy, who also spoke at the Gabriel Solar hearings, pointed out that the very concept of industrial-scale solar seems to go against the current comprehensive plan for Prince Edward. 

He referred back to 2014, when this plan was being worked on. Residents came out to give their opinions, saying that they “all like the countryesque appeal of Prince Edward.” How does a solar panel fit into that, Murphy wondered. 

Murphy, who was at the March hearing representing Prince Edward County Farm Bureau, questioned why the county seems to focus on these industry-scale projects, rather than the small scale pieces so many had been in favor of? Much like Jennings earlier, he questioned why the county isn’t being proactive. 

What happens next in Prince Edward? 

The appeal and hearing has been pushed back twice already, as CEP officials make changes. In his letter, Utt wrote that he was requesting more time so that CEP could “improve the conditions for these projects to directly address concerns that were raised by (the) planning commission. On Green Bay in particular, we are modifying the site plan and adding new conditions to directly address concerns about project visibility and to mitigate risks associated with stormwater management.” 

That’s scheduled now to take place on June 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors Room of the Prince Edward County Courthouse. It’s located at 111 N. South Street in Farmville.