In a win for opposing neighbors, Suffolk City Council on Wednesday unanimously rejected a small solar farm on Old Myrtle Road.
New Leaf Energy wanted to construct a 3-megawatt facility on land zoned for agriculture and previously used for logging, but needed a permit. The panels would have spanned more than 25 acres and contributed to Dominion Energy’s Shared Solar Program, which offers subscriptions to Dominion customers for savings on their bills.
Several residents, however, are skeptical of solar facilities as energy companies look for land for new developments in order to meet Virginia’s requirements that they generate all of their power from renewable sources by 2050.
New Leaf Energy’s Jessie Robinson said it did its best to design a facility that wouldn't be an inconvenience. Unlike other controversial solar farms in Suffolk, sound-generating inverters would be at the center of the property and exceed the more stringent regulations the city enacted in 2025. A noise study found the farm would be 15 decibels below the maximum allowed. The property is also buffered by mature trees and Robinson pledged to add more vegetation and screening.
Dozens of neighbors, though, signed a petition against the project and several spoke on Wednesday. Jimmy Smith lives adjacent to the property. In addition to runoff and noise concerns, he feared that Old Myrtle Road wouldn’t be able to handle the freight traffic during the farm’s construction.
“The sides of the roads are collapsing,” Smith said.
Another wrinkle was the project’s proximity to Western Branch Baptist Church, built in 1779.
“This is a historical church; it’s an amazing group of people that go to this church as well as the community people that live there,” Councilmember Timothy Johnson said. “The project is not a bad project, but the project is out of place.”
Solar developers are likely to continue looking for places to build in Suffolk. Cash-strapped, retiring and heirless farmers can be interested in selling their land when they find it hard to pass on leasing their land.
Virginia also has new laws that prohibit localities from blanket bans or caps on solar farm development; nearly two-thirds of counties did before the law. Suffolk limited them to just 1% of agricultural land.
