COUNTY & STATE RESOURCES
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Understand the county's project review process (this link has description of each stage from application review to Board of Supervisors' hearing)
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Current projects in the Orange County Planning Staff queue
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​Agendas & Minutes for Orange County VA (calendar for Planning Commission & Board of Supervisors meetings. Related documents for meetings are also posted prior to the meeting on the Agendas & Minutes page)
The Orange County VA Comprehensive Plan (2023)
Code of Virginia
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
(includes Permit By Rule checklist for solar projects greater than 5 MW and less than 150 MW and greater than 10 acres disturbance)
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OTHER RESOURCES
Citizens for Responsible Solar - a comprehensive site with information about other grassroots groups fighting utility scale solar on rural land, and resources for such group. Information on ordinances, decommissioning, property values and other critical topics related to utility scale solar development.
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Piedmont Environmental Council's utility scale solar resource page
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American Farmland Trust's Smart Solar principles for solar development
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The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's best practices for solar development
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"Growing Solar, Protecting Nature," an October 2023 publication of Massachusetts Audubon and Harvard Forest in response to current siting practices in Massachusetts that have converted thousands of acres of natural and working environments to large-scale solar. The report explores how to continue to scale up solar resources while avoiding "too high a cost to nature."