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JACKSON – The Northampton County Board of Commissioners have approved a revised solar farms ordinance, just a week before the county’s moratorium on construction of such facilities was scheduled to expire.

The commissioners held a special called meeting on Monday, June 23 for a public hearing on the ordinance proposal.

The temporary moratorium was enacted in July 2024 and expires on June 30, 2025. During this one-year period, the county could gather more information about solar energy and put together an updated ordinance concerning solar energy development.

Northampton’s Planning and Zoning Director Jason McAllister first presented the revised ordinance to the commissioners on June 2. The new document lays out permit requirements, setback requirements, other limitations, decommissioning regulations, construction waste management plans, a maximum density of facilities allowed, and more.

McAllister appeared before the board again at the June 23 meeting to answer any questions about the proposal.

The ordinance recommended setting a maximum density of solar facilities at five percent of the county’s total agricultural land. The commissioners asked for clarity about the acreage numbers used.

McAllister said he had originally gotten different acreage numbers from different sources, but the final numbers they used were from the Cooperative Extension Office, which listed the county’s total acreage at 352,415 acres, of which roughly 170,170 acres are considered agricultural land.

Commissioner Keith Edwards said he would prefer the maximum density be set as a percentage of the county’s total acreage instead, suggesting either 2 or 2.5 percent.

McAllister agreed that dealing with total acreage would be easier, since it was difficult to get accurate agricultural acreage numbers and that number can fluctuate from year to year.

Commissioner Melvetta Broadnax Taylor said she had concerns about the Community Benefits Agreement Committee part of the ordinance because the committee was only the Economic Development Director, the County Manager (or Assistant County Manager), one County Commissioner, the Chair of the County Planning Board, and the County Attorney.

“I would like to see the host community [of any future proposed solar farms] involved in the decision-making, and involved in the community agreement,” she said.

After the opening discussion, the board opened the public hearing for input from citizens. Several in the audience held up “no more solar farms” signs, but only four people chose to speak.

Sylvia Vincent, who has spoken many times over the past year about the solar farms being constructed in the Vultare community outside of Gaston, spoke first. She mentioned parts of the ordinance that she felt needed to be amended before approval, particularly the section about the construction waste management plan.

The proposed ordinance requires that 50 percent of all the waste from construction – including cardboard, wood, scrap metal and wire – be recycled. Vincent asked if that requirement could be changed to 100 percent recycling, since her neighborhood is often inundated with heavy smoke from burning wood piles and that causes adverse health effects on the people living nearby.

She also said she thought the fine for violating the construction waste management plan – which was set at $100 per day – was too low.

“The county should implement strict standards in the construction waste management plan,” she emphasized.

She concluded her comments by showing a petition of over 140 signatures that she had gathered.

Debbie Davis spoke briefly to urge the commissioners to save the county’s farmland, as agriculture is a large part of the county’s economy. She also noted that others across the state have pushed back against excessive solar farm developments too, and there is proposed legislation at the state level that may reduce the property tax exclusions that solar farm developers receive.

Tim Hollowell had questions about the acreage totals previously presented, but the commissioners’ discussion earlier in the meeting addressed those concerns. He said he agreed with the suggestion to set the maximum density percentage on the county’s total acreage.

Al Kwasikpui was the last speaker, and he echoed many of the same points others had mentioned, such as the fine amount for violations and the lack of citizens on the community benefits committee. He suggested the commissioners hire a third-party environmental lawyer to look over the ordinance and ensure it is as strong as it can be.

“We’re already saturated [with solar farms]. I don’t care where you drive, you’re going to see solar farms in Northampton County,” Kwasikpui emphasized.

He encouraged the commissioners to do what’s in the best interest for the county and the citizens.

After closing the public hearing portion of the meeting, the commissioners discussed implementing some of the suggestions.

Board Chair Ed Martin agreed that they could set the maximum density based on total acreage, and he also thought it would be good to add citizens to the benefits committee and increase the violation fine.

He did also note, however, that the county couldn’t set the density percentage to an acreage amount that has already been surpassed because they might face legal challenges. He didn’t want the ordinance to be challenged in court and then thrown out completely.

Currently, Northampton County has 8,627 permitted acres of solar facilities.

Martin suggested setting the density at 2.5 percent of 352,415 acres, which would put the maximum solar farm acreage at 8,810 acres.

Concerning the fine amount, Kelvin Edwards agreed that it was too low. He suggested bumping that up to $10,000 per day.

As for the benefits committee, Keith Edwards suggested adding one person from each of the county’s [commissioner] districts.

The commissioners all agreed to those three suggested amendments to the ordinance. Keith Edwards motioned to approve the ordinance with those amendments, and Kelvin Edwards seconded. The vote was unanimously in favor.

As for the other suggestions, Martin noted that they can also make additional amendments – such as to the construction waste management plan – in the future. The board agreed to seek out assistance from an environmental attorney, and Kelvin Edwards suggested that they continue to put this topic on the board’s agenda monthly.

“We have to do our due diligence in protecting Northampton County’s land,” he emphasized.

Commissioner Keedra Whitaker, who attended the meeting via Zoom, said she thought the amendments addressed many of the citizens’ concerns, adding “We want to make sure our county is safe for our citizens.”