by Jackie Nunnery
LANCASTER—The Lancaster board of supervisors on Thursday, October 27, unanimously approved a special exception request for a 2-megawatt solar facility off of Mary Ball Road near Chases Road.
However, the approval comes with considerable conditions. When the applicants, J. Rawleigh Simmons, owner, and Impact Power Solutions (IPS), agent, first filed the request for the 10.7-acre facility in February, the setbacks were vastly different from what was eventually amended and adopted in June. As county administrator Don Gill noted when presenting the request, the project would have a side setback of 50 feet rather than the 250 feet in the amended ordinance and 250 feet from Mary Ball Road rather than the updated 1,075 feet.
Gill also reminded the board under the new ordinance it could “increase or decrease any of the setbacks as a condition of approval of the special exception.”
“We are following the tree line and shrub requirements and that’s where you’re going to get the biggest bang for your buck,” said Jesse Dimond, senior developer with IPS. “The difference between 250 and 1,000 feet setback, in my opinion…..
