Planners mull Halifax solar farm, meat facility

4 Meats Processing, Sedge Hill Solar permits come up for public hearings Tuesday

A proposed solar farm and a second try at establishing a local slaughterhouse top the agenda for the Halifax County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors when the two boards meet Tuesday.

Planners and supervisors have scheduled two public hearings for the 6:30 p.m. joint meeting. The first is to consider plans for the Sedge Hill Solar Project, proposed about a mile and a half north of the Town of Halifax in the vicinity of L.P. Bailey Highway, Howard P. Anderson Road and Dudley Road.

The developers, Birch Creek Development and Pine Gate Renewables, want to build an 80-megawatt array on roughly 1,064 acres, spread over 11 individually-owned parcels. The fence area where solar panels will be hidden from public view takes up 550 acres. The solar array would be surrounded by a fence and vegetative buffer.

The developers have submitted a site plan and decommissioning plan for approval, and they estimate the project will provide an $8 million revenue boost for the county over the facility’s 40-year lifespan. It will take up about 100 non-contiguous acres of prime farmland, prompting the developers to ask that the county waive a section of its solar ordinance that restricts the amount of agricultural land that can be devoted to solar energy generation.

Nearby residents have been notified of the Sedge Hill conditional use permit request and are invited to attend Tuesday’s meeting, which will take place in the Bethune Complex second-floor meeting room in Halifax.

The second public hearing is to consider a conditional use permit request for 4 Meats Processing Center. Plans call for establishing the business near the Halifax-Person county line, at 1093 Whitt Loop in Alton. Partners in the proposed venture are Brad Miller and Chris Hudson.

They are reviving plans for the slaughterhouse after an earlier permit application was withdrawn in the face of public opposition in the Sinai area, where Miller and Hudson originally sought to locate the business. In its revised form, 4 Meats Processing Center will be located on agricultural land owned by Dale Miller, Brad’s father. The partners envision business hours from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, by appointment only.

The envisioned market consists of livestock producers in Halifax and adjoining counties, with Miller and Hudson proposing to meet an acute need for processing of local meats — helping to break a logjam for producers as demand for local meats outstrips the current capacity of area slaughterhouse operations.

The proposal to establish the slaughterhouse has drawn letters of opposition from a handful of neighbors who argue the project will have a detrimental impact on their property values, will create noxious wastes and odor, and is located close to an active church on Whitt Loop, Mayo Grove Missionary Baptist Church.

The planning commission will review the permit request following the two public hearings and may make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, which must approve the projects. Action by the Board of Supervisors would come at a subsequent meeting.

The joint meeting of planners and supervisors is open to the public.

 

 

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