By Liz Trubeck
The Warm Run Solar LLC’s plan for a 35-acre solar array project has been debated in three meetings with two different Rockbridge County agencies. And it’s still months away from final approval.
“How many meetings have we had about this?” asked Nancy Cuzzimano, a Natural Bridge resident who attended every meeting protest the project. “If it takes this long to decide, I think you have your decision.”
But it moved one step closer last night when the Rockbridge County Planning Commission voted to send the proposal back to the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors.
This means one more vote and at least one more meeting where environmentalists challenge the landowner’s decision to lease the ground for solar panels providing electricity for over 620 local homes.
John Townsend, Sun Tribe’s associate director of project development said the process in Rockbridge County is taking longer than usual due to added conditions and procedural issues.
The Charlottesville-based developer first proposed building the three-megawatt project near U.S. 81 and 64 intersections in August. Warm Run Solar LLC is a division of Sun Tribe Development LLC. The array would be about the size of 26 football fields.
In its proposal, Warm Run Solar LLC said the project is “expected to generate approximately $460,000 for Rockbridge County, an increase of more than $373,000 compared to the property’s current use.”
Ironically, such projects pit environmental activists who want cleaner energy sources against residents who think such projects hurt property values and ruin the scenic valley. Some fear the arrays cause health problems, but Rockbridge County’s Director of Community Development, Chris Slaydon, says the EPA considers them harmless. “The determination has been made that they are safe while in operation,” he said.
Another pressure: A 2020 state law requires localities to tap more renewable energy sources by 2050.
Skylar Zunk representing EnergyRight, an energy education nonprofit, said the project is “incredibly small, by Virginia standards” and “will keep Rockbridge in line with the vast majority of other counties across the commonwealth that have gone through this laborious process.”
Property rights are also of public concern. Robert F. Huffman is the trustee of the farmland, who is legally able to do what he wants. But neighbors fear a solar array will hurt their property values.
Mitchell Davis from the South River District said his family owns four properties on the land next to the proposed solar site. “People talk about property rights, if you could do anything with your land you wouldn’t need zoning,” he said at the Sept. 11 planning commission meeting. “What about our property rights, it will lower our property value.”
Two of Davis’s four houses are rental properties. “By destroying the landscape around there it’s going to be harder to rent those two properties,” he said, “so it’s going to cause an economic problem for us.”
Davis also says he worries that drilling and blasting could cause his nearby well to cave in. “It’s also a danger of contamination and who pays for it if that happens,” he asked. “We don’t know who will deal with it because these things typically change hands several times.”
Tyler McGilvery, Sun Tribe’s associate project developer, said the well won’t be affected and offered to meet Davis at his property to address his concerns.
The Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. for citizens to comment on the issue.