County Board of Supervisors Will Hear Sol Orchard Appeals Wednesday

Residents and groups in opposition of a proposed 42-acre solar farm off Warnock Drive will attend the San Diego County Board of Supervisors meeting tomorrow, Feb. 6, where they'll ask for an appeal of the County Planning Commissions approval of the project.

On Oct. 19 last year, the Planning Commission voted on this item after hearing testimony from 16 speakers—five in support and 11 in opposition.  After discussion of alternative site locations and a motion to extend the landscape buffer from 20 feet to 50 feet, the Planning Commission voted 6-1 to recommend approval of the Sol Orchard Ramona Solar Energy Major Use Permit. 

In January of last year, the Ramona Community Planning Group unanimously voted against the proposed solar farm, saying the project didn't fit with Ramona's community plan.

Three separate parties are asking the County Board of Supervisors to appeal the Planning Commission’s decision to grant the Sol Orchard Ramona Solar Energy Major Use Permit:

• Lozeau Drury LLP, on behalf of Laborers International Union of North America
• The Ramona Community Planning Group
• Jerry Myers on behalf of Citizens for a Rural Ramona

Sol Orchard, which is proposed for 1650 Warnock Dr., includes the construction and operation of a photovoltaic solar farm that would consist of approximately 42.7 acres of solar panels over a 110-acre site with a production capacity of 7.5 Megawatts, according to the county.

A County Board of Supervisors planning report said the panels would be single-axis tracking panels which would range from an eight-foot to an 11½-foot height at maximum tilt.

The majority of the panels will be 8-feet tall and they would be screened by an 8-foot tall fence and landscaping, the report said. The panels would be aligned in rows that rotate to face the east in the morning and west in the afternoon to maximize solar absorption.

Energy from the site would be delivered to an existing overhead 12 kilovolt (kV) distribution line that runs parallel to Warnock Drive, according to the county.

The Board of Supervisors meeting will be on Feb. 6 at 9 a.m. at 1600 Pacific Highway in San Diego, room 310.

The full agenda and report can be found online at the County of San Diego website.