Sec. 18-630.A through 18-636.A

In areas having excessive slopes or having highly erodible soils, no roads, driveways, structures, or land disturbing activities shall be allowed except where no other practical option exists.

All construction within flood plain areas shall be in accordance with the requirements of erosion and sediment control chapter of the Southampton County Code and the most recent version of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code.

Ground water monitoring shall take place every five (5) years of the operation of the project.

A natural resources inventory, prepared and submitted in accordance with the provisions established herein, shall be required for all properties seeking a zoning map amendment and/or conditional use permit and/or site plan approval request for a utility scale solar installation.

Wetlands delineation shall be performed in accordance with the comprehensive onsite determination method specified in the Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands, 1987.

If the fence abuts any property in residential use, a four (4) foot tall landscaped berm planted with grass shall be part of the opaque screening.

Opaque screening to a height of eight (8) feet within three (3) years of installation must be provided along these areas.

The development area shall not include any area in an identified 100-year floodplain, except as minimally necessary for service utility or access road crossing areas.

Ancillary non-solar collector equipment and/or structures, including, but not limited to, inverters and transformers, may exceed the height limitation of eighteen (18) feet, provided such equipment or structures are not visible from the exterior of the property.

Solar energy arrays shall not exceed eighteen (18) feet in height when oriented at maximum tilt, as measured from the ground.

any utility scale solar installation comprising twenty-five (25) acres or more in any location in the county shall prepare and submit the studies and reports in the manner specified below.

Additionally, a fifty thousand dollar ($50,000.00) landscape bond shall be submitted that remain in effect for the life of the project.

Prior to the issuance of the first land disturbance permit, appropriate surety equal to fifty (50) percent of the cost of the installation of the landscaping for the entire project shall be submitted.

Such ground cover or grass is limited in height to twelve (12) inches by Southampton County Code section 10-48.

If non-native species must be utilized, such planting shall not constitute more than twenty-five (25) percent of all new plantings.

All lighting shall be source shielded and downcast to prohibit glare onto abutting properties.

The maximum height of any light structure shall not exceed twenty (20) feet along the exterior boundary or within the approved setback/buffer areas and thirty-five (35) feet in the interior.

The maximum height of any light structure shall not exceed twenty (20) feet along the exterior boundary or within the approved setback/buffer areas and thirty-five (35) feet in the interior.

The project upon completion shall not exceed the noise limitations throughout Southampton County at the exterior boundary of the properties.

Notice of the date, time, and place of the meeting, as well as a contact name and phone number of the project representative and a summary of the request, shall be delivered by first class mail to all property owners as noted in Southampton County tax records within one (1) mile of the perimeter of the project.

construction shall commence within twelve (12) months from the date of approval of the conditional use permit or the conditional use permit shall be void.

An administrative fee in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1000.00) shall be paid with the delivery of the estimate or any recalculation thereof.

The owner shall have not more than twelve (12) months to complete decommissioning of the solar energy facility.

A revised engineer's estimate of probable cost of decommissioning shall be submitted for review approval every five (5) years in the same manner as the initial submission.

Prior to site plan approval, the applicant shall provide the county with a performance guarantee in the form of a bond, irrevocable letter of credit and agreement, or other financial security acceptable to the county in the amount of one-hundred (100) percent of the estimated decommissioning cost.

Decommissioning shall be required following a continuous period of twelve (12) months of the cessation of use for the electrical power generation or revocation of the special exception permit, whichever shall first occur.

slopes exceeding fifteen (15) percent and/or slopes defined as critical slopes by the Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook, shall not be disturbed.

All site development shall be performed in phases so that not more than fifty (50) percent of the land disturbance areas reflected on the site plan shall be disturbed without stabilization at any time.

No utility scale solar energy project shall be located within five (5) miles of another major solar energy project permitted under this section as measured at the nearest exterior boundary of each project.

As part of the master plan submitted for review in conjunction with a zoning map amendment for a utility scale solar installation, or a request for site plan approval, a phasing plan shall be provided.

All existing or planned intersections, commercial entrances, median breaks, pavement markings, driveways, or other roadway features potentially affecting traffic flow located within five hundred (500) feet of the proposed development as well as all intersections and driveways internal to the development shall be considered.

Signage shall be limited to a notification sign placed at each site entrance and at locations along the exterior fence that states (a) the rated nameplate capacity, (b) the name of the project owner, and operator (if different from the owner), (c) the street address of the site, and (d) a 24-hour emergency contact phone number for the operator.