Charlotte Knights owner plans Catawba County solar farm

The owner of the Charlotte Knights wants to build a solar farm in Catawba County, but the plan faces opposition from neighbors and the county’s Planning Board.

Residents will have another chance to comment on Don Beaver’s plans for the 54-acre farm at a public hearing Monday night before the county commissioners vote on a rezoning needed by the farm.

The hearing and vote are scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Catawba County Extension Center, 1175 S. Brady Ave., Newton.

Representatives of Beaver’s RB Solar LLC will ask county commissioners to rezone 54 acres of a 127-acre tract near Rock Barn Golf and Spa in Conover. The property, on North Oxford Street near Rock Barn Road, is owned by Beaver’s Rock Barn Properties.

The county planning staff recommended approval, but the Catawba County Planning Board voted 6-2 on July 27 against recommending the rezoning to commissioners.

Before the vote, Planning Board member Ed Neill said the plans seemed rushed to beat a sunset provision in the legislature in Raleigh for state tax credits. He said no wetlands were marked in the plans and that no erosion and sedimentation plan was submitted. Also, he said, Rock Barn Properties has already sold parcels to “a substantial number of landowners that will have views of a solar farm.”

Ray Combs, who lives near the RB Solar site, told the Observer his biggest concern is how the farm would affect neighbors’ ability to resell their properties.

He’s also concerned about runoff into nearby Lyle Creek, he said, and the impact of construction traffic on Rock Barn Road, which has intersections and a nearly 90-degree curve, he said.

RB Solar officials said the solar farm would create full-time jobs, power 695 homes, be largely hidden and reflect no significant glare onto nearby properties and roads. Noise is no issue with such projects, they added.

Mature, dense vegetation would create a natural screen from other properties, RB Solar said. A creek and hills also would shield the solar array, officials said.

“There’s significant vegetation on (the property) now, but we’re adding evergreens to areas that might be more sparsely covered,” Bill Parrish, executive vice president of Rock Barn Properties, told the Observer.

Various types of clover would be planted for honeybees, he added. “It’s environmentally friendly,” he said.

“I see this as a great project from a land-use perspective,” Parrish said. “It’s shielded from neighbors’ view. It’s for the sustainability of the Rock Barn community to have more capacity for power generation. It’s a good, forward-looking project, and there’s a lot less disturbance to land when compared to (housing) development.”

Parrish also cited a study of the Governors Club golf course community in Chapel Hill and the solar farm beside it. The study found no harm to property values, Parrish told the Planning Board.

Parrish said the various claims by solar farm opponents are unfounded. “The better informed people are about the project, the less objection there would be,” Parrish told the Observer.

This story was originally published August 14, 2015 at 8:28 AM with the headline "Charlotte Knights owner plans Catawba County solar farm."