By a 4-3 margin Tuesday night, the Gloucester Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance change designed to further restrict and regulate the construction and use of solar facilities in the county.
Previously, the county’s solar ordinance had three definitions for the scale of such facilities—large-scale, small-scale and utility-scale. The new ordinance adds community-scale as a type of commercial solar facility.
The ordinance also changes the wattage that solar facilities are allowed to produce and where they are allowed to be built.
Small-scale solar farms can produce power up to 25kW and are allowed by-right in all districts.
Large-scale farms that are roof top or canopy mounted can produce a range between 25kW to 3 MW and are allowed by right in all districts. Large-scale farms that are ground mounted can produce power between 25kW to 3MW and are allowed by-right in Rural Countryside and Industrial districts, and in all other districts with the use of a Conditional Use Permit.
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