Special Use Permits Approved for Rural Health Facility and Hecate Solar Farm

After initially tabling special use permits for the new Eastern Shore Rural Health facility off of Route thirteen, and the Hecate Solar farm on seaside, the Board of Supervisors once again took up both of these items. The County Board of Supervisors, after still having some misgivings about safety along that stretch of the corridor, approved the Special Use Permit for Eastern Shore Rural Health’s new facility. The vote passed three to one, with Chairman Murray abstaining (Murray voiced traffic concerns as the reason for abstaining). Supervisor Granville Hogg, noting a possible conflict of interest, recused.

This 20MW solar facility off Seaside Road was approved by the board 3 – 2 with Duer and Hogg voting no. As part of the package, Hecate had offered  incentives including a $200,000 cash that the county can use any way it wishes, enhanced screening and noise restrictions, as well as more property taxes. With this approval, Hecate can now move forward on acquiring the next set of approvals. The Cherrydale Solar Project will be the first utility-scale solar project in Northampton County. If the process stays on track, construction could start this spring, with production operations beginning early winter.