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Chapel Hill News <br />May 26, 2015 <br />Orange County commissioners review White Cross solar farm plans <br />By Tommy Grubb <br />tgrubb@newsobserver.com <br />HILLSBOROUGH <br />The Orange County Commissioners <br />heard Tuesday from a California <br />company that wants to build a solar <br />farm in the White Cross community, <br />six miles west of Carrboro. <br />White Cross Solar LLC is seeking a <br />permit to build a 5- megawatt solar <br />power facility near the northwestern <br />corner of White Cross Road and Old <br />Greensboro Highway. The company is <br />owned by Cypress Creek Renewables, a <br />solar energy developer and owner <br />established in May 2014. <br />William and Carol Byron, who own the <br />35.8 -acre parcel, would sell roughly 20 <br />acres to the developers. They plan to <br />continue living in their home, south of <br />the proposed solar farm. <br />The site is less than a mile from the 6- megawatt White Cross Solar Farm that Strata <br />Solar built in 2013. It would be to the rear and north of the White Cross Recreation <br />Center. <br />The solar permit hearing is "quasi judicial," meaning the commissioners can consider <br />only sworn testimony and factual evidence. <br />The Planning Board could review the project at its July 1 meeting and make a <br />recommendation to the commissioners by Sept. 1. The solar facility, if approved, could <br />be generating electricity for Duke Energy Progress by the end of 2016, company <br />officials said. <br />County staff and White Cross Solar officials held two neighborhood meetings about the <br />project this spring. <br />