Unanimous vote gives county more oversight
Solar farm companies may now think twice before moving to Oglethorpe County.
In addition, current solar projects need to adjust their operations after the Board of Commissioners unanimously accepted an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance of Solar Energy Systems at its monthly meeting on Monday.
The vote was 5-0.
The amendment, which the Zoning Board recommended, was created during the six-month moratorium on solar projects. It replaces Section 712, which restricts solar farms and protects the land, as well as residents.
Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Jay Paul said, “It is a huge step in the right direction.”
There are two solar farms in the county: Timberland Solar Project on Goose Pond Road and the Wolfskin Project on Double Bridges Road.
A representative from a third company — Leeward Renewable Energy — spoke at the meeting in an attempt to persuade the commission to delay the vote. Leeward had hoped to build a solar farm on Devil’s Pond Road and Highway 22.
Craig Livingston, a senior development manager with Leeward Renewable Energy, reiterated the company’s written request for another moratorium so that it could “solve the problems that you've experienced in other solar farms and give us the opportunity to amend and modify your solar ordinance as it's written.”
Livingston said the revised ordinance would effectively keep Leeward from pursuing the project. He took issue with the ordinance’s guidelines about the amount of trees needed to cover the area and the lack of a tax abatement.
After 30 minutes of discussion, the board approved the solar farm amendment. Livingston said he was “very disappointed.”
“We are willing to make a very substantial investment in the county,” he said. “We could make them safer, we can make them stronger and we can make them smarter.”
Livingston said Leeward Renewable Energy plans to pursue a discussion with county officials on amendment variances, but if no agreement is met, the company's business in Oglethorpe County is “DOA.”
The board heard from concerned residents before the vote, including Cheryl Gray, who lives on Devil’s Pond Road. She was most concerned about clean up and the roadways with a “backup of 18-wheelers bringing in these monstrosities.”
Gray wanted a further explanation of solar farms and their benefits as she said “the two we already have are an ugly mess, and I just don’t want another ugly mess across from my property.”
Paul shared his relief.
“Obviously, people in the industry aren't in favor of it, but you heard constituents that are,” he said. “I know the headaches that I've been dealing with for 2½ years since I've been in this position, dealing with the ones that are already in the process of being built. I'm just very thankful to our Board of Commissioners for adopting this ordinance, and we can address some of the problems that we've inherited from the other sites or been created by the other sites.”
In other news, the board:
- Unanimously approved Salem Church Road to be added to the restricted road list for truck traffic, which means trucks wouldn’t be able to use the road as a cut through or a short cut. District 5 Commissioner Tracy Norman said “large carriers” are using Salem Church Road as a shortcut.
- Approved the administrative consent agenda, which included the purchase of a $100,000 lowboy trailer for the Public Works Department.
- Received word that the Oglethorpe County Landfill is reaching capacity and at “a record pace of filling up.” The landfill is accepting up to about 400-500 tons a day, up from an average of 90 tons a day, with most of the waste from outside of the County. The board plans to look into adjusting the price of dumping, leading District 2 Commissioner Andy Saxon to say, “We shouldn't be the Wal-Mart of the landfills.”
- Heard Mattie L. Hill on an issue in the poor condition of Hill Drive, which is a private drive in Sandy Cross.
- Heard Melissa Godfriaux, who reported an incident with a speeding granite truck that nearly collided with a school bus that was picking up her children on Veribest Road on Monday morning.