Orange County NC Website
33 <br /> 1 December, 2013 and have had ample opportunities to fine tune the application. They have had <br /> 2 an abundance of time as well as corporate-scale financial and human resources at their <br /> 3 disposal. <br /> 4 <br /> 5 I respectfully request that you grant a continuance of the Public Hearing in order to give us a fair <br /> 6 and reasonable amount of time to gather credible opposing evidence. I urge you to give <br /> 7 particular consideration to the financial harm that will likely befall us and our neighbors if this <br /> 8 application as well as to the impacts of noise, visual blight/glare and general inappropriateness <br /> 9 of this proposed site. I also ask you to consider the two very important inadequacies in the <br /> 10 application that I discuss below. <br /> 11 <br /> 12 In closing, I want to say that our objection is not necessarily to building solar plants in Orange <br /> 13 County. Appropriately sited solar plants can be an asset. However, the siting of this large-scale <br /> 14 development is not at all compatible with the area for which it is proposed. <br /> 15 <br /> 16 Thank you very much for considering our concerns, <br /> 17 <br /> 18 John Petranka and Sally Gewalt <br /> 19 <br /> 20 <br /> 21 Below I discuss two particular concerns about the proposed development. The first has to do <br /> 22 with whether the soil types and compaction study requirement of the UDO has been met for the <br /> 23 SUP submission, and the importance of requiring a geotechnical study before a possible SUP <br /> 24 approval. The second concerns what I believe is a seriously flawed noise impact projection <br /> 25 submitted by Binks, and my own assessment of the potential noise impact of the project. <br /> 26 <br /> 27 <br /> 28 <br /> 29 I. Apparent Omission of Soils Report and Compaction Studies Required for an SUP <br /> 30 Application of This Nature. <br /> 31 <br /> 32 In Section 5.9.6 C 1 of the Orange County UDO (page 5-79, of the UDO, revised <br /> 33 3/19/14), Submittal Requirements are listed for Solar Arrays — Public Utility Class A <br /> 34 Special Use Permit. There are four submittal requirements as stated here: <br /> 35 <br /> 36 <br /> 37 (C) Standards for Solar Array— Public Utility (Class A Special Use Permit) <br /> 38 . (1) Submittal Requirements In addition to the information required by Section 2.7, the <br /> 39 following shall be submitted as part of the application: <br /> 40 . (a) A site plan showing all existing structures on the property, any proposed buildings or <br /> 41 structures that are necessary to support the proposed array, existing and <br /> 42 proposed storage areas, parking and access areas, topography at a contour <br /> 43 interval of five feet, any officially designated floodplains or alluvial soils. <br /> 44 . (b) Plans and elevations for all proposed structures and arrays as well as descriptions of <br /> 45 the color and nature of all exterior materials. <br /> 46 . (c) Landscape Plan, at the same scale as the site plan, showing existing and proposed <br /> 47 trees, shrubs, ground cover and other landscape material <br /> 48 . (d) A soils report denoting the types of soil on the property including detail on the <br /> 49 compaction necessary to support the proposed development. <br /> 50 <br /> 51 Requirement (d) appears to state in plain language that a soils report and soil <br />