Planning Commission Minutes. September 15, :00 PM

Transcription

1 Planning Commission Minutes September 15, :00 PM Members Present: Gordon Birkett, William Smith, Carter Ball, Jean Segar, Trent Taliaferro, Joey Reinhardt, James Gray, Bud Smith Vice Chairman, Trent Taliaferro opened the meeting with discussion of a new Chairman since Ray Thomas has resigned. The first order is to elect a new Chairman. The first nomination was for Trent Taliaferro. The second nomination was for Joey Reinhardt. Mr. Reinhardt turned his nomination down due to Mr. Taliaferro experience. He said he was the second newest Board member. Vice Chairman asked if there were any other nominations. There were none. It was agreed and seconded that Trent Taliaferro be the new Chairman. Floor was then opened for nominations of Vice Chairman. Jean Segar suggested Joey Reinhardt. All voted Aye and none opposed. Joey Reinhardt is now Vice Chairman. Chairman Trent Taliaferro presented a Conditional Use request for a Solar Farm in the Dunnsville area. He asked if there were any comments. Zoning Administrator, Hodges introduced Johnathan Baker of Coronel and Susan Sturm of Coronal. Mr. Baker was asked to come forward and make comments. Mr. Baker introduced himself as one of the founders and told of his future plans. Panasonic backs a lot of the projects that they do. They have 25 employees located in Charlottesville, Va. They have been doing global energy for 15 years. They started with wind energy. That company was sold, now they are doing solar energy. They have projects across the country, Connecticut, North Caroline, and California. This will be the first project in Virginia. Are there any questions? Please address Susan Strum as she is the project Engineer. Ms. Strum explained that this was a 20 MW project that will be located on the Rappahannock Industrial Academy property; Haile property. In the site plan you can see that there are 2 parcels that will be joined together and there will be a sub-station just a mile up the road just off of Tidewater Trail. The connection would use existing poles and easements for this project. It would adhere to set back requirements required by Essex County. Some of the benefits include, cleaner energy, increase in real property values, as the property will no longer be Agricultural Use. It will bring construction jobs for 3 to 6 months while the project is under construction. Are there any other questions about those site specifics?

2 Chairman Taliaferro asked the first question. How far off of the road or how close to the road is the closest panel? Ms. Sturm said there would be a 100 setback from the front yard from the fence line. Chairman Taliaferro asked how far the panels would be from the fence line. Ms. Sturm said that would be determined by the final construction, but generally there is an electric code that would require 20 or 30. There is a road that follows the fence line so it has to be the size of a car so it would depend on the following construction. Chairman Taliaferro asked about what kind of ground treatment dothey put under the panels. Ms. Sturm said as of now, there would be no vegetation underneath the panel. Vegetation or weeds would block the sun to the panels. Projects do have an operations and maintenance plan that includes lawn care Chairman Taliaferro said he is picturing in the shade with no direct sun light, there won t be any vegetation under the panels and if that s the case there will be bare ground. Is that a potential erosion problem? Ms. Sturm said there are two parts to that question. The project will have an erosion control sediment plan that is required. With Essex County being in the Chesapeake Bay Preservation area, there will be requirements for that. The water quality impact assessment will be done at the construction permitting time because that s based on final construction designs. As far as any natural vegetation growing, the panels are tilted so there will not be any shade on them at any time. Chairman Taliaferro had one more question. What about the life of the system and the decommissioning. How do you go about providing for that cost in the future; is there a bond of some kind or insurance policy or some kind of financial instrument that assures decommissioning in the future? Ms. Sturm said the decommissioning is part of our leases we have with the tenants and the decommissioning clause is included with the lease. And as Mr. Baker had mentioned we are part of a bigger financial as we are with Panasonic. Chairman Taliaferro asked how that is guaranteed. Is there a financial instrument? Mr. Baker said yes, bonding is one of them. Whoever owns this project will inherit the obligation to decommission it. There is money set aside for the end of this project. It is insured so that the money will be there. Chairman Taliaferro asked who holds the title to the equipment. Do you put the package together? Mr. Baker said it is usually utilities that own these facilities and they

3 take care of the generating assets. 30% are investors who get tax credits so if you have a large federal tax bill. Our investors have been, Sun Trust, Wells Fargo, New York Life. These are big companies that are in it for the tax attributes. They hire construction companies to do their operations and maintenance now and sign up for these bonds to make sure there are plenty in this to pay for the decommission. The land will be put back in its natural state. Joey Reinhardt asked as far as construction, there is no concrete, pads or anything poured in the ground. Ms. Sturm said there is only metal racking which is driven into the ground 6 to 8. Chairman Taliaferro asked if there were pads for the equipment, transformers and those kinds of things. Ms. Sturm said that the invertors would be no higher than 15 in the air. Bud Smith asked how far away did they have to be from the sub-station. Ms. Sturm said they can be up to 5 miles but this sub-station is one mile away. Bud Smith asked how many acres would they need to justify a project. Ms. Sturm said generally they need 6 to 10 acres per MW. Joey Reinhardt asked if there was a fire danger since we are dealing with electricity. Ms. Sturm said all of the equipment follows the National Electrical Code which has fire protection, NFPA standards, and with the set back and the metal equipment, a fire wouldn t go too far. Chairman Taliaferro asked if there were any other questions. It was asked if this was the first project of this scope in Virginia. Ms. Sturm said it is one of the first phases of a project this size in Virginia. There was one in Fauquier County, but not sure when it scheduled to go under construction. This is only the second one we have permitted in Virginia. There is a goal to do this by 2016 because of a tax credit but that s not guaranteed. Chairman Taliaferro asked if anyone from the public would like to speak. Comments for or against. Patricia Holmes came to the front. She was there representing Angel Visit Baptist Church, the trustees. Their concern was that the panels would be an eye sore when they leave church every Sunday. They do not object but would like a fence or barrier. Terry Norton of Dunnsville came to the front to speak. She wanted to know if there was any special certification or qualification that the fire department would need should there be an incident. Melvin Gaines came to the front to speak. He said he understood originally that there was going to be a 400 set back. Now I m hearing 100.

4 Ms. Sturm said that was the first plan. This is a different plan. Mr. Gaines asked why they want to be closer to the road. Ms. Sturm said efficient Land Use. Mr. Gaines said by being that close, you will be right on top of the highway. From Mr. Gaines house, you would need 25 fences to block seeing the panels. He said they are contradicting themselves. In this county, we have a lot of rain, a lot of that ground doesn t perk. Directly behind me in the field, it doesn t perk. All of the water from that land is going to run into my property. Any chemicals you use is going to get into our water. You said it s going to enhance the values. That means it will affect the taxes. A question for Mr. Blackwell. The booklet says it will not affect the taxes. Now you re saying it will enhance the value. So, this means taxes will be raised. My question for Mr. Blackwell, (a yes or no question) Will this have any effect on the assessment of value on my property? Commissioner of the Revenue, Tommy Blackwell said I think no. Mr. Gaines said do you think or are you not sure. Mr. Blackwell said that he had not dealt with this before. Mr. Gaines said so that should be one stipulation before you even think about passing this. When they have home values and assessments go up. There s no point in a couple of people making money off of this when we have to pay high taxes. I understand that the deal has been made with these people, and I m not going to pay high taxes. I know what I m talking about because I have been in contact with the State. You have to go through the State. Am I correct? Ms. Sturm said, yes. Mr. Gaines asked if they were aware that there are eagles on this property. Are the easement lines centered around my property? Mr. Gaines wished to talk about the health aspect. In this packet it seems everything is ok. In my research it s not like that. I don t want to put my health out in the public but there are studies that say radiation, a type coming from a solar system sometimes cause dirty electricity, may have long term health effects on healthy people as well and may cause ADHD in children. Hyper activity. This can also cause sleepiness. The invertors are the main problems on a solar farm. They generate radiation. In the booklet you state that you are going to wash the panels twice a year. That s not true. That s all I have to say. Chairman Trent Taliaferro asked if there were anymore questions from the public. He asked Ms. Sturm is she would like to answer some of the questions from the public. Let s start with radiation radiating from the inverters. Ms. Sturm said this is not true. The voltage in the panels and transformers is less than the voltage on the distribution lines in the neighborhood. Chairman Taliaferro asked how often do they have a schedule for cleaning and maintenance, and what do you use to do cleaning? Ms. Strum said that the cleaning of panels is in the operation and maintenance plan and the scheduling of that varies by region. Some in California where they do not get a lot of rain would

5 need to be cleaned more often as here where there is a lot of rain that cleans the panels on its own. I cannot say how often the panels will be cleaned a year. Mr. Baker said the facility is monitored 24 hours a day. If we do not get a lot of rain, the panels will be washed. We will use chemicals approved by the county but usually only water is used. High pressured water for a jet spray. The panels will be arranged so sun light can get in and grass will grow. If we go with a tracking system the panels will spaced 15 to 20 apart. They have to be far enough apart so they don t shade each other. There is a maintenance plan for each facility. Mrs. Segar asked if they tried purchasing property not surrounded by homes. Ms. Sturm said yes, they look for more rural areas. We can put up vegetative screening along Tidewater Trail. Mrs. Segar asked again, did you look for property where houses are not surrounded. Ms. Sturm said, yes. There are a lot of pros and cons we look for in the properties. Mrs. Segar said you couldn t find a piece of open property that wasn t close to homes. Mr. Baker said they couldn t find property that was close to the right substation with the capacity on it to receive this power. That s why we are here. Mrs. Segar asked if they had talked to landowners that weren t interested. Mr. Baker said it s not everyone s cup of tea. Bud Smith asked if there could be some vegetative screening between them and Mr. Gaines property. Ms. Sturm said there looks like there is already a lot of vegetation but mostly what they would be doing is along Rt. 17. Joey Reinhardt asked about if there was an emergency situation, how long would it take for someone to respond. Ms. Sturm said that was up to the fire department. Mr. Baker said these facilities can be shut down remotely by the utility. The fire department will be trained on how to enter and what to do. This can be shut down immediately so no one gets shocked. Chairman Taliaferro said if no one else has a question or input, would Tommy Blackwell come forward and share his tax wisdom regarding how this piece of property is assessed or what are the tax ramifications. Commission Blackwell said he knows a little. What he knows is that recently the General Assembly passed legislation to encourage the development of Solar power in the

6 Commonwealth. One of the things they do is try to lesson taxes. On the equipment that is associated with the Solar farm the General Assembly passed into law that facilities that generate 20MW of electricity or less is exempt from taxation in the localities. So it would not be taxed at all. That does not apply to the real estate. So, the owners of the land would continue to pay tax on the land. One of the questions I will ask during the reassessment it, what kind of value will be put on the land with this facility on it. In Mr. Blackwell s estimation the value of that land would change. It would probably change from Agricultural to Commercial Use. We would have to see how much income is generated from this property being used as a Solar Farm. The bottom line is the equipment is tax exempt by the State and by State Code the land would not be tax exempt. Mrs. Segar asked about the land surrounding the Solar Farm such as Mr. Gaines. Commissioner Blackwell said in all of his reading it should not affect the value of adjoining properties. Mrs. Segar said shouldn t. Commissioner Blackwell said we would have to do a lot more research but like you, I m trying to learn what this is all about. Some arguments say that it could reduce the value. Some say it could increase the value. I really don t know. My initial response is that I don t think it will affect it either way. Take for instance the cell towers. The landowners generate rent money from the cell towers but it has no adverse effect on adjacent landowners. Chairman Taliaferro said, being no further comments from the public, we will close the public comments. Any discussion from the Board. Mrs. Segar said she didn t realize the affect this Solar Farm would play on the community. Chairman Taliaferro asked if anyone else had questions or comments. My company is involved in solar energy, so I will be abstaining from the vote. Joey Reinhardt suggested conditions. The staff report was read. Essex Solar Center, LLC request a Conditional Use Permit to place a solar farm with the capacity of 20 MW on approximately 175 acres located on Tax Parcels , 52-43, 52-2C, 52-2-B, 52-2-A. These tax parcels are located off Rt. 17 South near Muddy Gut Rd. in close proximity to an existing Dominion Power Sub-Station. There will be 15 separate concrete pads enclosed by a 6 fence for security purposes. I have enclosed a copy of SB 418 that passed the House and Senate in 2014 which allows tax exemption on all photovoltaic V equipment less than 20 MW. I anticipate that the property would come out of land use and be taxed as commercial.

7 Required notice to the Rappahannock Times and adjacent property owners has been accomplished. I have received many calls; the majority of a positive nature. I see no reason this use should not be approved. Possible conditions are listed: 1. Provide adequate screening from Rt. 17 (Natural or installed) 2. Review request in one year. Chairman Taliaferro asked, once the permit is applied for, what EMS work can you see being involved. Zoning Administrator Hodges stated that we had opted out of Storm Water so whatever plan comes we will send to DEQ. Mr. Ball said there is no doubt that Solar Energy is coming to Virginia. My opinion is this is an opportunity for Essex County to be on the leading edge of Solar Energy. I believe we were chosen was because of our rural nature. I believe one is fine, but I wouldn t use this as a precedent for future Solar farms. Zoning Administrator Hodges said if this site is approved by the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors, it doesn t mean we have to approve another site. It s site specific. If it s not a good fit, it can be turned down. Mrs. Segar is not comfortable to it being in the neighborhood. Gordon Birkett said it is a leading edge thing and the chances of this kind of facility is less than a lot of things we could have come in and be installed. I am in favor. Mr. Smith said that adding a vegetative strip could help the mitigate the aesthetic concerns. Chairman Taliaferro asked, do I hear a motion. Joey Reinhardt said he would like to move that we approve with the following conditions: 1. to install a natural vegetative barrior along Rt. 17 and along any adjoining residences 2. review this in a year and ask VDOT to review this. Is there a second. It was seconded. All in favor say AYE. Mrs. Segar abstained. 5 in favor and 2 abstentions. Motions carried. Zoning Administrator Hodges had a couple of other forms of business. The Capital Improvement Plan will be coming to you soon. The Board of Supervisors wants information. In October we will bring the Capital Improvement Plan to the Planning Commission, with

8 intensions of going to the Board of Supervisors in October. The only other thing I would like to do is hand out the existing Zoning Ordinance. We ve been over the A-1 and A-2 district. We need to go over this in the upcoming months. Chairman Taliaferro said there being no further business, this meeting is adjourned.