Monday solar meeting includes public hearing

Residents of Washington County, Virginia, have another chance to speak about a proposed large-scale solar energy project during Monday’s Washington County Planning Commission meeting.

The commission is then expected to act on the special exception request from Catalyst Energy Partners following the public hearing. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Washington County Government Center in Abingdon.

“They [public] are going to be speaking on the special exception permit submitted by Catalyst Energy,” County Administrator Jason Berry said. “They submitted that to the county on May 31.

“Ultimately, the purpose of the special exception permit is for the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors to review an application and to see if it meets the ordinance of the county,” Berry said. “And, it’s to receive feedback from the public.”

Dallas, Texas-based Catalyst Energy wants to build a 262-megawatt solar energy facility on approximately 2,253 leased acres on both agricultural and industrial lands, largely in the Wyndale area, Berry said.

Out of that, 1,575 acres are proposed to be fenced.

“That’s where the solar panels would be, obviously, behind those fenced areas,” Berry said.

Setbacks are also required, according to a newly passed solar ordinance, to allow space between the proposed solar farm and neighboring properties, Berry said.

“In their application, they talk about the economic impact,” Berry said. “They talk about the total cost of this project is $386.9 million.”

Of that estimate, $221.9 million is slated for the design, preparation and construction of the project while the remaining amount — $165.1 million — equates to the capital equipment costs of solar panels and other hardware, Berry said.

The proposed project spans 33 parcels, Berry said.

“It’s real close to the Bristol Virginia city limits,” Berry said.

The proposed sites lie about two miles from Clear Creek Golf Course and less than a half-mile from Sugar Hollow Park, according to Berry.

The golf course contains a dam controlled by the Tennessee Valley Authority, similar to a TVA dam on Beaver Creek at Sugar Hollow. Both dams are used to control flooding in downtown Bristol.

Landowners wanting to lease their property for the solar farm say this could help provide income from vacant land.

The permit request includes proposed sites on land along State Route 645 (Wyndale Road) and (Wallace Pike), State Route 662 (Spring Valley Road), State Route 614 (Childress Hollow Road), State Route 804 (Rust Hollow Road), State Route 657 (Reedy Creek Road), State Route 1717 (Industrial Park Road) and State Route 625 (Bordwine Road).

Tracts are located in A-1 (Agricultural, Limited), A-2 (Agricultural, General) and the R-2 (Residential, General) zoning districts, county documents show.

There are industrial, residential, commercial and agricultural properties adjoining the parcels proposed for this project.

The request doesn’t include rezoning of any property.

Large scale solar projects are permitted by right in the M-1 and M-2 districts, so the requested special exception is not required for, and does not pertain to, the five parcels located solely in the M-2 district, according to the application.

Landowners whose names appear on applications contained in the packet as requesting the exception are Michael Anderson, Sharon Duckett, Darrell Gilbert, Green Valley Poultry Farm, Inc.,Timothy Icenhour, Sage Johnson, David Mason, Scott Meyers, Roe Properties, LLC, Bruce Shankle, Michael Turley, Roger Lee White and Tyler Wilson.

Others listed on the meeting agenda are Mason Bowery LLC, William B. Noonkester Estate, Farmlands, Inc., and F. B. & Bertha Noonkester Irrevocable Trust.

At previous meetings, some neighbors have expressed concerns about potential drainage problems, obstructed views, the loss of farmland and whether Catalyst might sell out to unknown foreign investors.

Planning Commissioner Dulcie Mumpower has been among the most vocal county leaders to speak about the proposal, which lies largely in the Wilson District but also stretches in the Tyler and Jefferson election districts.

“This is a very beautiful county. People come here because of that,” Mumpower said. “I don’t think they want to come here and see solar panels all over our county. They can go and see that if they go to the desert, which is where they should be — not in residential areas.”

She said several county residents have called her to express their concerns.

“The neighbors in this community are pretty upset about solar panels coming to our area. The neighbors did not want this in their neighborhood,” Mumpower said. “If my neighbors don’t want it, then I have to step back and look at it and decide if it’s a good thing for our neighborhood.”

Still, Mumpower would not say what her actions might be on Monday at the commission meeting.

“I always like to wait until I see what both sides are to say before I make a decision on what to do,” she said. “I just don’t think that we know everything that we need to know if solar panels are the right thing for a community like ours.”

With regards to any potential future sale of the project, County Attorney Brandon Snodgrass said that would likely be out of the county’s control.

“Can you tell a business owner to whom they can or can’t sell a business in the future?” Snodgrass asked.

Catalyst’s plan calls for feeding energy, collected from the expanse of panels, to the electrical grid through the Wolf Hills Energy Center.

“They’re building out a solar farm to meet the capacity of Wolf Hills Energy,” Berry said.

In its request, Catalyst proposes to pay the county a share of monies generated by the sale of that energy which equates to about $22 million over the 35-year life of the proposed project.

The proposed project would employ approximately 890 local and non-local full-time equivalent construction workers over a representative 12-month construction period, according to the application. Construction is expected to take about 20-25 months.

During the construction phase, the project would support 147 direct and 115 indirect and induced job years, $14.7 million in associated wages and benefits and $64.3 million in economic output.

During its operational phase, the project is estimated to support three direct and nine indirect and induced jobs and to generate $2.9 million in economic output, according to the application.

If the special exception permit is approved, the company would have to meet all requirements of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), as administered by the county, Berry said.

In the end, the proposed solar ordinance calls for a decommissioning plan to remove the panels and related infrastructure after approximately 35 years, according to both Snodgrass and Berry.