Stafford allows the solar project to submit a new application

Under county code, once the board takes such action – and fails to issue a conditional use permit – the applicant must wait one year to reapply.

On Tuesday, regulators decided to waive the process and allow Enon Road Solar Farm LLC to revisit its use. Mike Zuraf, acting deputy director of planning and zoning, informed the board that the applicant was willing to make changes to the original application based on concerns from nearby residents and county officials.

He added that a new application could be submitted within a few weeks.

Even though the Enon Road project has been given a second chance to be approved earlier than usual, there are still some steps that need to be taken.

“Any new application would have to go through the entire process with a public hearing before the Planning Commission and then back to the Board (of Supervisors),” Zuraf said.

The Enon Road solar farm proposal is the second for Stafford and the second within a similar distance. In September, officials approved construction of a public solar plant on the north side of Truslow Road between Virginia Avenue and Locust Street.

Santa Monica, California-based Kinglet Solar says solar panels located at the 5-megawatt plant will transmit electricity to a Dominion-operated power grid and ultimately provide power to 660 solar subscribers under the utility’s shared solar program.

Under the program, low- and moderate-income customers can subscribe to a shared solar facility and receive a bill credit for the “prorated solar facility capacity assigned to that subscriber,” according to Dominion’s website.

Justin Vandenbroeck of esaSolar, who submitted the initial application for the Enon Road solar farm, said his company also wants to participate in Dominion’s joint solar program. He also said that the Enon road project would benefit about the same number of customers.

In October, Supervisor Crystal Vanuch said there were “several key differences” between the solar plan the board approved a month earlier and the Enon Road plan. She said the Enon Road project was planned next to Musselman Park, which was intended to be an integral part of the area’s rural residential character.

Supervisor Darrell English said he is aware of his constituents’ concerns and that he wouldn’t want to see a solar installation on the site if he lived there. Like Vanuch, he said the location wasn’t ideal, and English added that nearby landowners said the company had “repeatedly harassed them” by suggesting it might build a pig farm if the solar application wasn’t approved.

However, Supervisor Monica Gary said she has spoken to residents who could benefit from savings on their energy bills. They told her the company had “made every effort” to engage the community “in the best interest of the successful completion of the project.”

Ultimately, Gary abstained, voting 4 to 2 against the bill.