Darlington County Council passes solar energy ordinance
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
After six months of citizen protests, informational workshops, and committee revisions, Darlington County Council approved final reading of Ordinance 16-19 and set into law a comprehensive set of rules governing the location and construction of renewable energy systems.
The measure passed by a count of 6 to 2, with Council members David Coker and Joyce Wingate Thomas voting against passage. Before Council considered final reading, representatives from both sides of the solar farm fight had one final say.
Hal Johnson, a resident of Byrdtown who has addressed Council several times asking for larger buffer zones and greater setbacks from residential areas, expressed concerns that the ordinance did not require solar energy developers to secure a bond to pay for eventual decommissioning and cleanup of their project sites. Johnson observed that Darlington County does require $25,000 decommissioning bonds for cell phone towers and he suggested that solar energy systems should face that same requirement.
“If they are not cleaned up, they too would sit in place and pose a danger to the public in general,” said Johnson.
Lesley Williams, director of land acquisition and commercial sales with solar energy developer Southern Current, LLC, lauded the ordinance for its careful construction, inclusion of public input, and provisions to weed out less reputable developers.
“It is the single most comprehensive and wide-reaching document that we have yet encountered. This ordinance already, as it is written before you, will keep out all but the serious in the solar industry,” Williams said.
Williams addressed the question of whether solar energy systems would actually create jobs and generate tax revenue for the local community. She said that her company encourages the use of local contractors for construction when possible, and that Southern Current is “committed to being a long-term contributor to the prosperity of Darlington County.”
Williams said that there are about 12 solar projects currently slated for construction in Darlington County with a total investment of $225 million. She estimated lifetime property taxes for these sites at $34 million, with total property taxes of $1.9 million in the first year.
“We appreciate that we do not produce a lot of jobs, but we do produce taxes,” said Williams.
Williams also discussed the Renewable Energy Jobs and Economic Development Bill (S. 44/H. 3079) which recently passed the SC Senate by a vote of 38-4 and is now under consideration in the House Ways and Means Committee. The current version of this bill would exempt residential solar energy systems from property taxes and would assess larger commercial solar energy installations (those generating more than 20 kW of energy) at just 20 percent of market value.
Williams said that Ways and Means should be adding language to the bill to prevent developers from taking advantage of both this 80 percent tax break and a separate provision for a five-year tax abatement.
Additionally, Williams said that by advancing solar energy development, the county could become more attractive to industry, since many large companies are now factoring renewable energy availability into their growth and location plans.
Council member Lewis Brown offered one amendment to the ordinance, asking that developers be required to secure a $50,000 decommissioning bond from the sixth year of operation onward. Coker and Thomas voted against the amendment, with Coker reasoning that the bond should be required from the first year. Brown’s amendment passed by a vote of 6 to 2.
Council chair Bobby Hudson, vice chair Le Flowers, and Council members Dannie Douglas, Mozella “Pennie” Nicholson, Bobby Kilgo, and Lewis Brown voted in favor of the amendment and the ordinance.
Some key provisions of Ordinance 16-19 include:
• 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.