The Gloucester County Planning Commission held two public hearings last Thursday in the T.C. Walker Education Center Auditorium.
Planners unanimously voted to recommend approval of an ordinance to permit permanent food trucks and food truck courts, while recommending denial of a conditional use proposal to establish a battery storage facility in the northern part of the county, also unanimously, save for commissioner James R. Gray Jr., who recused himself from the discussion and vote as he was formerly employed as a consultant for Purple Martin Energy Center LLC, the firm seeking the conditional use permit.
Purple Martin Energy Center
Planners voted to send the battery storage CUP request to county supervisors with the recommendation of denial, due to both inconsistency with the current comprehensive plan and staff recommendations.
The proposed project would establish a battery energy storage facility on 15 acres of land on a vacant lot in the Rural Countryside Zone (RC-1) near Glenns. The center is estimated to have a 255-megawatt capacity, connected directly to the power grid.
Batteries housed in fire-resistant, outdoor containers store energy that would be sent to the grid during high-demand times like severe weather and would support renewable energy sources.
As proposed, the facility would be expected to go online in 2030, with a likely six months’ construction. It would be monitored remotely through an operating center in Charlottesville, with regular in-person maintenance to the grounds.
As stated in the proposal, East Point Energy would equip local fire departments with training and needed materials, including drones for monitoring and a water tanker.
Planning and zoning staff recommended denial of the project due to lack of specific details regarding equipment safety, emergency response planning, the project’s inconsistency with the Comprehensive Plan’s Future Land Use and inconsistency with the intent of the RC-1 zoning district.
The commission had many questions for Chris Meyer, a project development manager for East Point Energy who presented the proposed CUP, and his associates. John Walser, a consultant with Fire and Risk Alliance, answered a question posed by supervisor Chris Hutson, liaison from the board to the commission, on what fire retardant would be needed. “There is no fire-retardant material, necessarily,” Walser said.
Rather, the ideal case would be a mitigation strategy of isolation. Water would be used on exposures, not directly on the batteries, according to Walser. There is no risk of contaminated runoff with this strategy and, due to the size of the lot—and in compliance with Virginia Code, plumes would not go beyond the property, he said.
Commission chairman John Meyer asked how the company would assess the risk of irritants like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to anyone nearby the site if a fire were to occur.
Using information from a hazard mitigation analysis based on the exact cell as it is being burned, the company can tell what the cell is producing and how the module and unit would react, Walser said.
“Then we use modeling criteria to see how a plume would be impacted by wind under various conditions … We want to make sure no plume comes off of that site that would be either immediately dangerous to health and safety, or that there would be any contaminant that would spread beyond that site.”
During the public comment period, Petworth District resident Bryan Landers brought forth a concern that the longest actively running facility the company has is only six years into operations. There are no studies to show the long-term impacts to wildlife, area citizens, ground water and air quality, he said.
Landers also raised a concern that while the batteries themselves do not give off much noise, if any, the required HVAC units intended to prevent the combustion of the batteries do produce a low-decimal hum that would impact area wildlife and livestock.
Seth Cogbill, representing Energy Right, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization focused on ensuring energy development projects are “done the right way,” stepped forward to urge the commission, and county residents, to consider battery storage moving forward.
Virginia imports more electricity than any other state in the nation, he said. The state pays premiums on these imports, which reflects on utilities bills, and, rather than a stressor, the center would help the local economy and improve county budgets, according to Cogbill.
Ronald Herzick of Abingdon District emailed the commission also in favor of the energy center. As a registered Land Disturber and former Department of Environmental Quality certified Erosion and Soil Control Inspector, Herzick vouched that the proposed center had an adequate ratio to handle runoff from the impervious area of the site. Done right, there is no cause for concern, he said.
William Milby, co-executor for the William Milby Trust, left a voicemail with the county, letting the planning commission know that the easement was recorded without his signature and that the trust requires both executors to sign. “Purple Martin does not have legitimate easement recorded for the property,” he said.
The hearing was re-opened to the planners for comments and questions. Member Douglas Johnson asked about disposal, which was a concern brought up by residents.
With a projected use of 50 or 60 times a year, the batteries would have a degradation level of about 50 to 60 percent around year 15, said Meyer of East Point Energy. Once at that level, the batteries would be removed and sent to a recycling facility to either be repurposed or shredded and minerals recycled back into the supply chain, he said.
Along with the initial commission of the power plant is a decommissioning process required by the regulations in the Virginia Statewide Fire Code and National Fire Protection Association 55 Code, added Walser.
Food trucks
No public comments or concerns were brought forth in the proposed ordinance governing permanent food trucks.
Currently, there is no regulation under the zoning ordinance for food trucks, as long as vendors stay mobile. Through the proposed ordinance, trucks would be allowed to continue moving around without a zoning permit, while also providing a way to establish a permanent location by CUP process.
Small Town Burger owner Jay Wolfson and commercial realtor Mac Houtz asked the planning commission to consider an ordinance to allow permanent food truck venues in Gloucester County in November.
The ordinance would permit, by conditional permit, mobile food vendors in the Rural Countryside District (RC-1), Industrial District (I-1) General Business District (B-1), Village Mixed Use District (B-2) and Rural Business District (B-4) and mobile food vendor courts in all except RC-1.