More than a year after supervisors approved a solar farm for an old field in Norge, more solar is back on the roster.
A solar power company has sent a letter to the James City County Planning Department indicating it may be interested in building a 20-megawatt — referenced as 20 “MWac” in the letter — solar farm off Richmond Road.
The project would be called Rochambeau Solar and settled between Route 60 and Rochambeau Drive on a piece of property owned by Hill Pleasant Farm and the Hunt family. It would include the solar farm panels and possibly a battery storage facility.
The company proposing the project, North Carolina-based Strata Solar Development LLC, has entered into a long-term lease with Hill Pleasant Farm, according to the letter.
The conceptual plans submitted by Strata Solar Development could change, as they were designed without a topographic or boundary survey, nor an environmental or archaeological evaluation, according to the letter.
The letter’s writer, Development Manager Ben Vollmer, said the review from planning staff and “early stage dialogue” will help address concerns.
The proposed project appears in the Planning Director’s Report for June 2019.
Planning Director Paul Holt said the company who is proposing the project is different than the previous company who proposed building a 20-megawatt solar farm behind the Norvalia subdivision in Norge.
In February, Holt told WYDaily SunPower Devco LLC had not submitted any site plan documents, which would be needed to move the project forward.
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That project, if it comes to fruition, would power roughly 4,000 homes as the county’s first large-scale solar farm.
Holt said the Planning Department has not received any other documents for the Strata Solar Development project besides the letter and preliminary conceptual plan.
The Planning Commission is set to meet at 6 p.m. June 6 at the James City County Government Center Board Room. The Planning Director’s Report is one of the agenda items for that meeting.
