Minutes 05-27-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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There are two solar utilities in Orange, two in Durham, one in Wake and two in Chatham. And I have material that displays this. All seven of these commercial solar utilities are located in rural areas. None of them are adjoining a subdivision, pre-existing or newly constructed, and in fact none of them are even adjoining individual houses. I am submitting aerial photographs of these seven solar utilities for your review. The only other solar utility that Sunlight Partners, who is requesting this special use permit today, is proposing in the Triangle is in a rural area off Red Mill Road in Northern Durham County near Falls Lake. There are no houses nearby. The second point I would like to address is 5.3.2 (A) (2) (c) the section of the Orange County unified development ordinance that relates to the granting of special use permits: "The location and character of the use, if developed according to the plan submitted, will be in harmony with the area in which it is to be located." I would like to examine that standard. From the evidence I presented a few moments ago, it is clear that siting a commercial solar utility directly adjoining a 50 year old subdivision will be a first for Triangle jurisdictions. Given that fact, I would hope that the Orange County Commissioners and the Orange County Planning Board will proceed slowly and cautiously in this matter with due reflection. Common wisdom holds that a picture is worth a thousand words. I believe that no number of photographs could adequately convey the character of Falls of New Hope, a fifty year old subdivision that backs up to New Hope Creek and is located across the street from the Triangle land Conservancy's Johnston Mill Preserve. I would suggest that the County Commissioners and the Planning Board cannot make a fully informed decision in this matter without first visiting Cascade Drive in Falls of New Hope. I would posit that "the character of the area in question" cannot be correctly ascertained without first visiting Cascade Drive in Falls of New Hope and that therefore the Board and the Commissioners cannot intelligently determine whether or not the proposed solar utility will be in harmony with the surrounding area without first visiting the area. I would further suggest that the Board and the County Commissioners should also visit the existing solar utility at White Cross off of Highway 54 in Chapel Hill to see what a commercial solar utility looks like up close and that perhaps they should visit that solar utility before they visit Falls of New Hope. Finally, given the fact that this solar utility, if approved, will be the first commercial solar utility located adjacent to any existing subdivision in the Triangle, I would suggest that the Orange County Commissioners and the Orange Planning Board must, in order to do due diligence and carry out the obligation and trust of their positions, visit the solar farm at White Cross and Cascade Drive in Falls of New Hope. This will be a first. None of us, I am certain, including Sunlight Partners, want it to be the last. As to the specifics of the site visits, whether the Commissioners and the planning board visit singly in small groups or a quorum with or without a stenographer present and with or without communication with residents of Cascade Drive while they are there, I leave that decision to the Commissioners, the Chair of the commission, the planning board, the Chair of the Board and the County attorney. During the past week I have heard from certain County