For the second time since July, Suffolk City Council denied a solar farm proposal on the same rural road.
Several council members on Tuesday agonized over rejecting a permit for a 15-megawatt project on agricultural land off of Old Myrtle Road.
Richmond-based CEP Solar applied to establish the solar farm on land leased from the Perry family. The late Sam ‘Pete’ Perry saw leasing the land as a way to keep Perry Minnow Farm going and in his family’s hands, according to son-in-law Glenn Adams.
“Sam saw solar as a particular way to help offset increasing costs of operating the farm and give his family a better opportunity to maintain it for future generations,” Adams said.
Several organizations sent letters of support also, which is somewhat unique for a solar farm application. Leaders from the nonprofits Hero Kids Foundation and ForKids Suffolk, and the Old Dominion University lab school STEM Academy at Booker T. Washington Elementary shared glowing reviews of CEP Solar’s volunteering and assistance.
It was a difficult decision for Councilmember Timothy Johnson, who voted to approve the solar farm alongside Mayor Mike Duman. The solar farm was going to be farther away from neighbors than the city required and kept noise-generating inverters away from property lines. Johnson, a frequent critic of solar development on farmland, also knew Perry before he died in 2025.
“What this family has done is take a section of their farm and turned it into a moneymaker, cash cow,” Johnson said. “I wouldn’t put solar on my farm — I don’t want to look at it — but as far as what it’s going to bring to the world in the future, I think we all need to be looking at a new way of dealing with these things.”
Several residents, however, saw the plan as farmland destruction. Jimmy Smith lives on Old Myrtle and feared the increased construction truck traffic, among other concerns.
“Do not ruin our peace and tranquility that we enjoy each and every day,” he said.
Jeanatta Whitehurst’s opposition was personal. Her family sold the land to the Perrys and it still contains a cemetery where her great-grandparents are buried. Whitehurst wasn’t swayed by CEP Solar’s promise that graveyard access would be maintained.
“The ground is sacred to my family,” she said. “It’s part of our history and a connection to generations that cannot be replaced.”
CEP Solar said they sent letters to neighbors inviting them to a meeting about the proposal, but some speakers said the company’s outreach never got to them. Only one family attended the meeting, which was a sticking point for members including Councilmember LeOtis Williams.
“If there was only one family there, I probably would have had multiple meetings,” he said. “We are firm believers up here that we want the public to be aware of what’s going on.”
