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Home My WebLink AboutSP202100006 Review Comments Special Use Permit 2021-05-01COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE Department of Community Development 401 McIntire Road, North Wing Charlottesville, Virginia 22902-4596 Phone (434) 296-5832 Fax (434) 972-4126 April 28, 2021 Amberli Young Community Power Group 5636 Connecticut Ave NW #42729 Washington DC 20015 RE: SP202100006 Ivy Landfill Solar Facilities Dear Ms. Young Your request for Special Use Permit SP202100006 for the proposed Ivy Landfill Solar Facilities has been reviewed by members of Albemarle County staff and our partner agencies. Review comments are provided below, organized by Department, Division, or agency. Planning (Scott Clark) No additional information is requested by Planning Please note that, in order to address the impacts of this proposed use, staff will recommend conditions of approval for the requested special use permit. While the final language of these potential conditions has not been developed, the matters to be addressed include: • Limitation on development of the project consistent with the information submitted in the application narrative and supporting documents. This includes location, screening areas, and general panel -area layouts. • Requiring that the facility meet the requirements contained in Chapter 18, Section 4.14 of the County Code. • Decommissioning plan, including use of recycling opportunities that exist at the time of decommissioning. • Limitation on above -ground wires, except for those associated with the panels and attached to the panel support structures, and those associated with connecting to the existing transmission network. • Training program for Fire/Rescue prior to activation of the site. • Requirement that outdoor lighting for the facility (if any) operate only during maintenance, and that any fixtures added for this facility be fully shielded as required by section 4.17. Comprehensive Plan Initial comments on how your proposal generally relates to the Albemarle County Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan) are provided below; additionally, comments regarding conformity with the Comp Plan will be provided to the PC and BOS as part of the staff report. The Comprehensive Plan designates the subject property as Rural Area — preserve and protect agricultural, forestal, open space, and natural, historic and scenic resources; residential (0.5 unit/ acre in development lots) land use(s) in the Future Land Use Plan. Title 15.2, Section 2232 of the Code of Virginia project requires a review for compliance with the Comprehensive Plan. This review will be done during the same public hearing meeting that the special use permit is considered. The Community Action Plan (Adopted October 7, 2020) states as a goal "Increase renewable energy generation capacity to the electrical grid system". This Plan also includes renewable energy sourcing strategies and actions. This includes, "Enable and incentivize utility -scale renewable energy projects in the County Code and during the community development regulatory process". This property is located within the watershed of the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir, a drinking water impoundment. In multiple locations the Comprehensive Plan discusses the need to protect the drinking water reservoirs in the County. An example of the importance the County places on protecting the public water supply may be found on page 3.4 of the Comprehensive Plan: "The principle of watershed planning is a key part of growth management planning. Protection of the public water supply, which relies on impoundments fed by these watersheds, is essential to the County's growth. Except for the Community of Crozet and a very small area in the Places29 Development Area, the western edge of the Development Areas boundaries is based on the watershed for the public water supply. Figure 1 shows the relationship of the Development Areas to the public water supply watersheds. The Growth Management Policy is the basis for most of the recommendations in this Plan and is the primary means to achieve the County's vision for the future." This application proposes a change in the use of the property that will require the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to make a determination that a solar energy system is an appropriate use within the drinking water supply watershed. Staff will raise this issue for discussion at the Commission's and Board's public hearings on this request. Zonin¢ (Lea Brumfield) Please see attached comments. Engineering (Frank Pohl) VSMP stormwater management for water quantity and quality must be provided to meet Part 2B requirements. Existing facilities may not meet such requirements and additional measures may be required. This comment can be addressed during VSMP permitting. VDOT (Adam Moore) Please see attached comments. Historic Preservation (Margaret Maliszewski) The applicant's studies indicate that the proposed facility will not be visible from any documented historic 2 resources. Entrance Corridor (Margaret Maliszewski) This development is not expected to be visible from the I-64 Entrance Corridor. Fire/Rescue (Howard Lagomarsino) 1. Fire Rescue concerns center on access for emergency apparatus, safe operations around the arrays, especially during an emergency and emergency procedures. Often this is addressed at the site plan review level, however appropriate to discuss as a part of special use permit. 2. Ground mounted arrays must have a clear, brush free area of 10 feet and this shall be maintained. 3. Looking at concept plan with this application, construction staging may create an issue for access beyond the staging area, but is unclear as presented. 4. Recommend as a Special Use Permit Provision, provide a training presentation for emergency responders to address key operational points effecting safety and best practices for emergency responders in dealing with emergencies in and around the arrays. Resubmittal If you choose to resubmit, please use the attached form. There is no fee for the first resubmittal. The resubmittal date schedule and other related resources are provided for your convenience online at: https://www.albemarle.org/departtnent.asp?department--cdd&relpage=l5259 Notification and Advertisement Fees Additional notification fees will not be required unless a deferral takes place and adjoining owners need to be notified of a new date. Community Meeting Prior to requesting a public hearing with the Planning Commission and Board, a community meeting must be held in accordance with Zoning Ordinance Section 18-33.37. Please contact me with any questions and/or requests for assistance you may have. I can be reached at sclarkkalbemarle.org or 434-296-5832, ext. 3249. Sincerely, Scott Clark Senior Planner II Planning Division enc: Zoning Comments VDOT Comments Action After Receipt of Comment Letter Resubmittal Form 3 V LEA BRUMFIELD County Of Albemarle Senior Planner II, Zoning COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Ibrumfleld@albemarle.org tel: 434-296-5832 ext. 3023 To: Scott Clark, Senior Planner Date: April 28, 2021 Re: Zoning Initial Review for SP202100006 Ivy Solar The following comments are provided as input from the Zoning Division regarding the above noted applications for the establishment of a commercial solar energy system at TMP 73-28: 1. Parking and access a. Parking for intermittent maintenance may be permitted in existing parking areas and along the existing access infrastructure, but parking for construction may not intrude upon the required parking for the Ivy Material Utilization Center. Construction Crew Parking must be limited to the location shown on page 7 of the Construction Phasing Plan. b. Provide information about vehicular access requirements to photovoltaic panels for maintenance following construction. Will a vehicle be required to access the panel locations? If so, provide access locations. 2. Concept Plan a. Provide approximate expected location of inverters and distribution lines. 3. Critical Slopes a. Demonstrate whether the panel construction envelopes will disturb any critical slopes. The location of the southern -most and eastern -most panels appears to possibly intrude on critical slopes. 4 COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION �mp6ro -_ [i::, h, t•_E 1401 Fir Band Svr (804) 786-2701 , .n:rin.,n r Richmond, Viminia 21219 F..:(8M)7862940 April 22, 2021 County of Albemarle Department of Community Development 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, VA 22902 Attn: Scott Clark Re: Ivy Landfill Solar Facility — Special Use Permit SP-2021-00006 Review #1 Dear Mr. Clark: The Department of Transportation, Charlottesville Residency Transportation and Land Use Section, has reviewed the above referenced plan as prepared by Community Power Group, dated I December 2020, and finds them generally acceptable. If further information is desired, please contact Doug McAvoy Jr. at (540) 71"113. A VDOT Land Use Permit will be required prior to any work within the right-of-way. The owner/developer must contact the Charlottesville Residency Transportation and Land Use Section at (434) 422-9399 for information pertaining to this process. Sincerely, Adam J. Moore, P.E. Area Land Use Engineer Charlottesville Residency VirginiaDOT.org WE KEEP VIRGINIA MOVING 5 DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ACTION AFTER RECEIPT OF COMMENT LETTER Within 30 days of the date of this letter, please do one of the following: (1) Resubmit in response to review comments (2) Request indefinite deferral (3) Request that your Planning Commission public hearing date be set (4) Withdraw your application (1) Resubmittal in Response to Review Comments If you plan to resubmit within 30 days, make sure that the resubmittal is on or before a resubmittal date as published in the project review schedule. The full resubmittal schedule may be found at www.albemarle.org in the "forms" section at the Community Development page. Be sure to include the resubmittal form on the last page of your comment letter with your submittal. The application fee which you paid covers staff review of the initial submittal and one resubmittal. Each subsequent resubmittal requires an additional fee. (See attached Fee Schedule.) (2) Request Indefinite Deferral If you plan to resubmit after 30 days from the date of the comment letter, you need to request an indefinite deferral. Please provide a written request and state your justification for requesting the deferral. (Indefinite deferral means that you intend to resubmit/request a public hearing be set with the Planning Commission after the 30 day period.) (3) Request Planning Commission Public Hearing Date be Set At this time, you may schedule a public hearing with the Planning Commission. However, we do not advise that you go directly to public hearing if staff has identified issues in need of resolution that can be addressed with a resubmittal. After outstanding issues have been resolved and/or when you are ready to request a public hearing, staff will set your public hearing date for the Planning Commission in accordance with the Planning Commission's published schedule and as mutually agreed by you and the County. 6 The staff report and recommendation will be based on the latest information provided by you with your initial submittal or resubmittal. Please remember that all resubmittals must be made on or before a resubmittal date. By no later than twenty-one (21) days before the Planning Commission's public hearing, a newspaper advertisement fee and an adjoining owner notification fee must be paid. (See attached Fee Schedule) Your comment letter will contain the actual fees you need to pay. Payment for an additional newspaper advertisement is also required twenty-two (22) days prior to the Board of Supervisors public hearing. These dates are provided on the attached Legal Ad Payments for Public Hearings form. Please be advised that, once a public hearing has been advertised, only one deferral prior to the Planning Commission's public hearing will be allowed during the life of the application. The only exception to this rule will be extraordinary circumstances, such as a major change in the project proposal by the applicant or more issues identified by staff that have not previously been brought to the applicant's attention. As always, an applicant may request deferral at the Planning Commission meeting. (4) Withdraw Your Application If at any time you wish to withdraw your application, please provide your request in writing. Failure to Respond If we have not received a response from you within 30 days, we will contact you again. At that time, you will be given 10 days to do one of the following: a) request withdrawal of your application, b) request deferral of your application to a specific Planning Commission date as mutually agreed to with staff, or c) request indefinite deferral and state your justification for requesting the deferral. If none of these choices is made within 10 days, staff will schedule your application for a public hearing based on the information provided with your original submittal or the latest submittal staff received on a resubmittal date. Fee Payment Fees paid in cash or by check must be paid at the Community Development Intake Counter. Make checks payable to the County of Albemarle. Do not send checks directly to the Review Coordinator. Fees may also be paid by credit card using the secure online payment system, accessed at http://www.albemarle.org/department.asp?department=cdd&relpage=21685. FOR OFFICE USE ONLY SP N Fee Amoom r Date Pun 1h. Recemr C6 B� Resubmittal of information for Snecial Use Permit (0 EM BEEN ASSIGNED: Owner/Applicant Must Read and Sign I hereby certify that the information provided with this resubmittal is what has been requested from staff Signature of Olyner, Contract Purchaser Date Prim Name Daytime phone number of Signatory FEES to be paid after application For original Special Use Permit fee of $1,075 ❑ Fust rembmissioe O BE PAID MMN THE RESLEInSSION IS WZE TO IT, AKE STAM Free ❑ Ea&ad&tosWmmibm==CfompAIDnT THERESLBanSSIoNisT ETOLyr g $538 For original Special Use Permit fee of $2,000 ❑ Fast resnbmisvon Crow PA ,%T rHE REsoawssiox rs aunx ro vrrArm srAFrt Flee ❑ Each addihonalresobutunan OBE PAm WHEN THE REsumas51oNtsmADE ToiNTAEE sr $1,075 County of Albemarle Department of Community Development 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, VA 22902 Voice: (434) 296-5832 Fax: (434) 9724126 R.W 11' =5 Paee 1 of I s