Commissioner Ronnie Richardson’s biggest concern was the possible damage to the roads near the solar farm.

LIVE OAK — With some extra time to examine concerns with the project as well as establishing several stipulations, the Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners approved a special permit for a solar farm in southern Suwannee County.

In a continued public hearing Aug. 6, the board unanimously approved the permit to allow Innovative Solar construct a 236-acre solar farm in McAlpin near the intersection of 200th Street, 77th Road and 192nd Street that is expected to produce 35 megawatts of electricity.

The board opened the hearing at its July 15 meeting but delayed approving the plan due to concerns with a buffer at the site as well as the roads in the area.

At the continued hearing, Innovative Solar had proposed conditions addressing those concerns, which ultimately were accepted by the board unanimously with some minor adjustments.

Ronnie Richardson, the commissioner for District 5 where the solar farm will be located, said his biggest concern with the project was the toll construction would take on 77th Road, especially the portion near Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church.

Mike Hill with Innovative Solar said the company was willing to repair any damage done to the roads as determined by a pre- and post-construction inspection.

Hill added while that road currently is littered with patches attempting to fix past issues, Innovative Solar would instead remove the damaged portion of road and fill it back in with asphalt for the entire stretch.

County Administrator Randy Harris, though, said that plan could be a problem itself. Harris said part of the issue with 77th Road currently is that it is an old sand mix road that didn’t have a proper base constructed when it was paved.

Harris advised the board that it should require the company to reconstruct the road to the current standard, which would require the proper base in addition to asphalt.

“We wouldn’t go out and put asphalt over sand,” Harris said. “When we reconstruct them, we have to reconstruct with base. I wouldn’t recommend requiring anything less.”

Hill said without knowing how much that would cost, he couldn’t commit to doing that. However, he said the company would consult with an engineer and see if that was possible without compromising the solar project.

“There’s too much unknown about the cost,” he said. “We’re certainly happy to work with the county.”

Ultimately, that commitment was enough for the board with Richardson noting he didn’t want to hold the company to a higher standard as a similar road was repaved a few years ago in the area.

Hill said Innovative Solar was also willing to invest in “significant landscaping” to provide a buffer for the project as well as conceal the fence that surrounds the solar farm. He said following instructions from the board at the previous meeting, the company had received advice and assistance from Katherine Allen and Carolyn Saft with the UF/IFAS Suwannee County Extension Office in order to identify shrubs and trees to use in the landscaping.

That condition had a minor alteration in language to keep it consistent with the county’s LDRs following County Attorney Jimmy Prevatt’s guidance.

The project also is requiring a 15-foot setback around the property with the fence constructed on the back end of that 15-foot buffer.

In addition to approving the Innovative Solar facility — the third in the county as Duke Energy opened a 70-acre (8.8 MW) plant in Falmouth in 2017, while Florida Power & Light is currently constructing an 800-acre (74.5 MW) solar farm in Wellborn — the board also decided at the meeting to not implement a moratorium on future solar farm proposals.

That idea was proposed to allow the board to establish basic criteria it would expect from any future solar project.

The board, though, decided it could discuss and implement those criteria without potentially delaying future plans.

“Suwannee County is not anti-solar,” Commissioner Len Stapleton said pointedly. “We are all about green energy and we want you here.

“I want any solar farm to come but I want them to be good neighbors to the people that live here. That’s the bottom line.”