Sunday, February 9, 2025

Pender County commissioners reject solar farm again, court battle possible

The Pender County Commissioners rejected a special-use permit again for a solar farm to be built. It could head back to court as the county were in mediation with Coastal Pines to come to an agreement forward. (Courtesy Pexels)

BURGAW — In the latest chapter of a 10-month saga, Pender County commissioners once again denied a California company’s request to build a 2,400-acre solar farm across three townships.

READ MORE: Pender board roundly rejects massive $300M solar project

ALSO: Solar firm sues Pender County over denied permit

To the wild applause of a packed house at the Monday night’s county commissioner meeting, the board unanimously voted against Coastal Pine Solar’s request for a special-use permit.

This came less than a month after Superior Court Judge Dawn Layton ordered the parties into court-appointed mediation on the matter. Coastal Pines filed a lawsuit against Pender County after commissioners denied its zoning request last fall, claiming they rejected expert evidence at the time.

The company owns a 6,587-acre wooded parcel north of Piney Woods Road and east of U.S. Highway 421, across the Burgaw, Union and Columbia townships. It had plans to clear its land for the $300 million project. 

Layton ruled in May the company had fulfilled three of the eight standards for special-use permits under county ordinances. She also noted Pender County witnesses, including staff attorney Patrick Buffkin and planning director Travis Henley (no longer with the county), failed to provide sufficient evidence to the contrary.

Layton threw out the commissioners’ motion to have Coastal Pine’s case dismissed.

During this week’s commissioners’ meeting, county attorney Trey Thurman read out the current terms of the mediation: The solar farm can be built in two separate phases, but cannot be any larger than 2,400 acres. It also has to be fenced-in and wildlife-protected, and a 100-foot natural vegetation buffer around the property must exist.

Solar panels must be 17 feet from ground to top, and it cannot produce more than 200 megawatts of power at any given time.

Thurman outlined for commissioners possible consequences should they fail to vote in Coastal Pine’s favor. He explained, during mediation attorneys for Coastal Pines said they would waive fees totaling $100,000 and would not sue for damages if the board approved the measure.

Coastal Pine alleges in the lawsuit Pender County’s then-commissioner Jimmy Tate, who resigned from his seat in January, participated in ex-parte, or outside communication, with local farmers before the board first met about the special-use permit in September. After unanimously voted in the fall against the company’s request, they returned in November to stop future solar projects in their tracks.

CATCH UP: Pender County is considering a zoning change that clamps down on new solar developments

Instead of a solar company simply asking for a special-use permit, it would have to go through the county for approval of conditional zoning change. Basically, commissioners could still allow a solar project in any district they wish as long as the developer complies with stipulations placed on it. Noncompliance can be grounds to revoke special zoning.

Thurman reminded the board Monday that the zoning change was written quasi-legislatively, so the members were forced to be impartial, to avoid a repeat of the events that led to Tate’s resignation.

“You have to be Lady Justice with a blindfold on,” Thurman said. “You can’t choose one side, and if you do, you’re supposed to recuse yourself.”

Despite Thurman’s warnings, commissioners were not impressed.

“My people elected me to look out for the people, the citizens,” commissioner Jerry Groves said. “I’m sitting here with no wetlands study, no wildlife study, no environmental study. I have nothing. That’s my stance.”

More than a half-dozen residents came out to speak against Coastal Pine during the first meeting last fall. They echoed commissioner concerns about soil contamination, flooding and the impact of clearing land.

Coastal Pine hired a solar engineer, who used to work for N.C. State University, that said the farm would have no negative impact on the land and that “organic matter” in the soil increases over time on solar farms. He added the project would not contribute to traffic, sound, smell or visual impact because of being located behind a vegetation buffer and permeable fencing.

Chair Jackie Newton shared her fellow commissioners’ concerns, believing the group had already decided the matter in September, and the board still didn’t have enough satisfactory information to approve the project. However, she also understood the future ramifications of a “no” vote.

“It’s just a difficult, difficult spot to be in because if it’s appealed, we run the risk of having to pay damages,” Newton said. “And we all want to be mindful of how we spend tax dollars.”

Since parties could not agree to a settlement via mediation, Coastal Pine’s original lawsuit is now allowed to proceed. Coastal Pines noted in the suit Pender County has approved solar farms in the past. For instance, Novo Nordisk runs a 105 megawatt facility and Crooked Farm’s 70-megawatt; Coastal Pines would be the largest at 200-megawatts. 

Port City Daily reached out to Bradley Risinger, the attorney for Coastal Pine, who was present at Monday night’s meeting. He had no comment on the matter and said he would speak on any potential litigation when and if it would happen.


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