The Mathews County Planning Commission will hold two public hearings on applications for solar farms when it meets Tuesday, starting at 7 p.m. in the historic courthouse on Court Street.
The conditional use permit applications for “shared solar garden or solar farms” are for two separate projects encompassing a total of 52.6 acres at 8444 Buckley Hall Road, Hudgins, and 30.989 acres fronting Church Street and Route 14 in Mathews.
A third public hearing will be held on a proposed text amendment to the Mathews County Zoning Ordinance. The amendment would add the Residential-2 District, or non-waterfront residential, to the districts where telecommunications facility structures would be permitted.
If approved, data poles would be permitted by right in the district, while the installation of a tower would require a conditional use permit. Districts where these structures are already permitted under the respective guidelines are the Rural, Residential-1 (waterfront), Business, and Industria...