Ground has broken on a solar farm planned by Sunrise Solar, along Clendaniel Pond Road in Lincoln which was approved by Sussex County Council in January 2023. During a public hearing before council requesting a conditional use change, there was no comment for or against the solar farm.
“This is an ordinance to grant a conditional use of land in an AR1 – Agricultural Residential district, for a 3.8 megawatt solar farm,” then-Director of Sussex County Planning and Zoning, Jamie Whitehouse, said. “The application was subject to a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission at its meeting of November 3 of last year, and at the meeting of November 17 of last year, the Commission recommended approval of the application.”
Julian Pellegrini, Project Engineer with PELSA Company, explained that the solar field would have gravel road access for equipment, pads, a fence, landscaping and stormwater management. Pellegrini was asked what easement or DelDOT entrances would be necessary. Pellegrini replied that the entrance would be off Clendaniel Pond Road but would not be similar to a larger development or business as there would not be significant traffic inside the property.
“So, the owner of this property understands that the taxes will change on that property, from agriculture to commercial,” Councilwoman Cynthia Green asked. “The taxes do change. We’ve just had this come up before where the owner wasn’t aware that there is a tax change.”
Richard Stoltzfus, CEO of Sunrise Solar explained that his company had addressed the tax ramifications with the owners and the contract stipulated that if the taxes go up beyond what is currently paid, Sunrise Solar would cover those costs.
“I’m the owner of the property with my two daughters that are here and there is a trust on the property, and we’re all in agreement,” Robert D. Smith said. “We want this to go forward. We were going to do a housing development, but really didn’t want to do that. We were gonna put chicken houses up and decided we don’t want to do that. And then Richard came by with his proposal for this solar panel, and it really fits what we want. It’ll be income for myself, my children, my grandchildren and my great grandchildren, and we’d like to have it.”
With no opposition to the solar farm, Sussex County Council approved the conditional use unanimously. Design and planning took over a year and ground was broken for the new solar farm in the fall of 2024.
