Zoning Board Approves Dollar General

Solar Farm Gets The Go-Ahead

CHARLOTTE COURT HOUSE – On Monday evening, August 7, the Charlotte County Zoning Board recommended a conditional use permit for a new Dollar General Store to be located at the intersection of Highway 15/360 and Hebron Church Road across from the Tastee Freeze in Wyliesburg.  At the public hearing no one addressed the board but at least a dozen Wylliesburg residents were in attendance. Following the meeting they indicated they attended in support of the proposal.

At the Tuesday regular Board of Supervisor’s meeting the Board approved the request.

An additional public hearing was held Monday evening for public comments on Holocene Clean Energy’s Twittys Creek Solar, LLC conditional use permit application for a 15 megawatt utility scale solar energy system to be located on three parcels of land totaling 91.4 acres. Two of the parcels are owned by Bill and Brenda Hall and the third by C.I. Hall, all of Drakes Branch. The facility will be located east of the Town of Drakes Branch near the intersection of Highway Fifty-Nine and Ingleside Lane.

In July 2016, the county zoning ordinance was amended to address solar uses.  Utility scale solar facilities are required to meet the standard setbacks of the district where they are located.  The proposed solar facility’s front setback is 125′ from the centerline of Highway Fifty-Nine, side setbacks are 50′, and the rear setback is 75′ in accordance with the setback requirements for the Agricultural District.

The site will be accessed from a private road off of Ingleside Lane.

Holocene is proposing a 4′ wide vegetative buffer consisting of evergreen trees along Highway Fifty-Nine and the portion of the leased area adjacent to Ingleside Lane.  On the western and northern property boundaries adjacent timberland will screen the property from view.

The solar farm will be surrounded by a six-foot-tall wire fence with vegetation control being done by sheep.  According to Stan Allison, CFO of Holocene, goats cannot be used because they climb and will damage the solar panels.

Allison also stated zoning approval is just one step in the process. He estimated another year before construction begins.

Bill and Brenda Hall were delighted with the decision. “We have been working on this for two years. Now we can move forward,” Bill stated.