K. C. and the Sunshine...

I guess I should give an introduction to this blog entry. So first, the back story. I work in county government, in the planning office. My job is as a technician, which means I interpret rules regarding how people are allowed to use their property. Which means people get pissed off at me pretty regularly, but I digress.

When I started working here, we were in the middle of a serious real estate boom. Wow, looking back I don’t even know how we were able to handle the workload, and I'm not exaggerating. Developers were buying up farms left and right, slicing and dicing and shoe-horning as many houses as could possibly fit into the smallest areas imaginable. The county had so many applications for land use that we had to schedule the usual monthly public hearing on two consective nights, and even with two, those hearings would last until the wee hours of the morning. That was about 5 years ago.

Fast forward to 2010. As you drive around the county nowadays, you will see many partially built out developments, as well as “for sale” signs advertising “Approved Subdivision – 448 lots” or “225 lots” or “137 lots”; you get the idea. Construction here has gone from boom to bust, just as it has in many places across the country.

So now (finally!) we in Kent County have a potential bright spot on the horizon – one of the approved subdivisions, as yet totally unbuilt, has been sold and a plan is being brought forward to turn it into a Solar Energy Facility. I personally think this is a brilliant idea. First off, we get to expunge the formerly approved subdivision, which was supposed to have had 216 homes on 148 acres. And that was only Phase One. Here’s what the proposed subdivision was planned to look like:



Not only do I love the word “expunge” (EXPUNGE!), but it’s like getting out a big eraser and wiping the slate clean – powerful. Second, we get to have green technology in its place. 148 acres of solar panels. I think we are going to get some mileage out of the positive publicity surrounding this project. Third, the design of this project has a tiny fraction of the impact that a housing development would have, for so many reasons. Of course less traffic, but also less impervious surface so less stormwater runoff ( a HUGE concern in an area that is flat as a pancake and whose soils are not exactly arable), and the spaces between the panels will be planted with clover, so ostensibly no mowing necessary. So far it sounds great. Here’s the preliminary proposal for the solar farm:

Now, when the Planning Officer first received this application, the name of the project was “Tuscany at Carpenter Bridge”, which is the name of the company that owns the property. Sort of sounds like a restaurant, doesn't it? My boss asked the developer to give it a name that better reflects what the new use would be, to which the developer replied,”What do you want to name it?” To which my fellow technician Kathy and I replied, “K.C. and the Sunshine Farm!” K.C. being Kent County, and c’mon, it’s a catchy name. However, it seems that the new name will be Renewable Solar Energy Farm at Carpenters Bridge.” Where’s the fun or imagination in that? Pfffffffffffffffffft.

The developer is stating that 320,400 panels will be installed, and will generate about 64 megawatts of power. That is purportedly enough to power 1800 homes for a year. The power will be added to the existing “grid”, though, so a consumer won’t know if they are buying solar power or not. Still, knowing that your "grid" has a solar farm has some cache, don't you think?

The application is scheduled for public hearing at the beginning of September, and I’m planning on attending this hearing just so I can hear what the public has to say. I can’t be positive, but I think the chances of this being approved without a lot of onerous conditions are quite good. Quite good. This is the kind of thing that government officials want their names attached to. Like I said, good press. And I’m fairly certain the neighboring property owners will be happy about it as well. Much happier than they were when the 216 homes were approved in 2006.

Stay tuned for more information as it comes in.

Do a little dance,
Make a little love,
Get down tonight,
Get down tonight, baby.

:D