Darlington County Council forwards solar energy ordinance
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
At their February 6 regular meeting, Darlington County Council passed second reading of a contentious renewable energy ordinance by a vote of 7 to 1. Ordinance 16-19 sets county regulations for the location, construction, and operation of renewable energy systems.
Residents of the Byrdtown community began registering concerns with the Darlington County Planning Commission and County Council last summer, saying this ordinance allowed large-scale solar panel installations too close to rural homes. Many of those same residents attended this meeting and reiterated their worries over potential health problems and negative aesthetics.
Though 16-19 came up for second reading more than once, Council repeatedly sent it back to the Planning Commission to incorporate information from citizens and solar energy developers in an effort to address concerns of both parties. After a January 17 work session focused on the nuts and bolts of solar energy systems, Council came away with a consensus on how to proceed, and that version of the ordinance returned to their agenda for the Feb. 6 meeting.
Darlington County Council member David Coker expressed concerns about the county’s renewable energy ordinance at Council’s Feb. 6 meeting
Council member David Coker (District #8, Hartsville) cast the lone dissenting vote. Coker offered two amendments, one to require a vegetative buffer around the entire solar energy installation, and another to require developers to secure a $50,000 bond to pay for future decommissioning of these sites. Both amendments received a second from Council member Joyce Wingate Thomas, but failed by votes of 6 to 2.
The approved version of Ordinance 16-19 includes the following stipulations:
•The setback distance between a solar energy system’s fence line and the nearest residential property line must be a minimum of 50 feet. The minimum setback distance from the fence line to the nearest residence must be at least 200 feet.
•Council opted not to cap a project’s size by acreage, but by total power output. The maximum allowable wattage output for a solar energy system will be 75mw, and the minimum physical size will be 1 acre.
•The required vegetative buffer shall be comprised of plantings that will match 100 percent of the solar panels height within three years. Buffer plantings will only be required along borders facing residences, not along borders facing highways or non-residential properties.
•Developers will not be required to take out a bond to pay for future decommissioning costs when the solar energy system reaches the end of its life.
In other matters, Council approved a revised vehicle purchase list from the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO). The new list submitted by Sheriff Tony Chavis removed requests from the previous administration for pickup trucks and replaced those with more patrol vehicles. The total package includes 24 vehicles: 20 fully equipped patrol vehicles, 1 special purpose vehicle with no law enforcement identifiers, and 3 administrative vehicles which could be outfitted for patrol at a later date.
Council previously approved a lease-purchase budget for DCSO of $857,600. This request allocates an additional $33,000 to transfer a Chevy Tahoe from the Coroner’s Office, raising that total to $890,195.
The Sheriff’s Office also received approval to transfer $32,374 from its fuel budget to purchase body armor for 38 Class 1 deputies currently working with expired protective gear or no body armor at all. The agenda request form stated that DCSO staff could not locate records “concerning the purchase, maintenance, disposal, or grant applications with regards to body armor.”
