The following specific design criteria will apply to a commercial solar facility to be constructed in the Agricultural zoning district pursuant to a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) issued by the Public Service Commission.
(A) Commercial solar facilities are not permitted within designated priority preservation areas, designated rural legacy areas, or on land preservation easements held in perpetuity, or on properties in receipt of financial incentives to maintain historic character through county or state programs.
(B) The Type I site plan application must be prepared in accordance with Division 3 - Site Plan Review - of this chapter and include all information required by Md. Code Ann., Public Utilities Article, §§ 7-207 and 7-208 for a CPCN application.
(1) The site plan application must be submitted by the applicant to the county and at least one multi-agency review cycle must be completed prior to the applicant submitting an application to the Public Service Commission for a CPCN.
(2) The site plan will be scheduled for a Planning Commission public hearing after the applicant provides a copy of the CPCN to the county and all agency comments are addressed.
(3) The owner of a property that is zoned Agricultural (AG) and approved for the installation of a commercial solar facility in accordance with this section must ensure that any portion of the property not placed into solar energy production will continue to be used for active or passive agricultural production, and purposes that are compatible with simultaneous solar production: by way of example and not limitation, such production and purposes include owner or tenant pasture production for grazing or harvest, crop production, beekeeping or timber production. Areas that are not used for agricultural production must be left as open space or, where streams or floodplain exist, as environmental buffers.
(C) Setbacks for solar energy generating panels and accessories will be measured from the nearest solar panel/structure.
(D) Setbacks for solar energy generating panels and accessories will be:
(1) Fifty feet from all property lines;
(2) One hundred feet from any residential structure; and
(3) Fifty feet from proposed or established road right of way lines as determined by the Master Highway Plan.
(E) All solar energy generating panels and accessories are to be sited down slope from ridge lines, toward the interior of the parcel, lot, or tract, whenever possible.
(F) Landscaping and screening.
(1) In addition to § 1-19-6.400, the following landscaping, screening, and buffering requirements must be met.
(a) A landscaped buffer must be provided along all property lines or along the exterior boundary of the solar array. The buffer must be designed to provide four-season visual screening of the solar facility and include multi-layered, staggered rows of overstory and understory trees and shrubs that are a mix of evergreen and deciduous vegetation, with an emphasis on species that are native to Frederick County.
(b) Applicant must submit a landscape, buffering, and screening plan as part of the site plan application addressing the requirements and timing of plantings. Screening and buffering must be installed as early in the development process as possible and prior to activation of the solar facility. Screening and buffering requirements must be installed in accordance with the approved site plan.
(c) The overstory trees within a landscape screen or buffer must be a minimum of 6 feet in height with a minimum caliper of 2 inches at the time of planting. The minimum size of understory trees and shrubs at the time of planting must be 3 gallon or larger. Trees and shrubs larger than the minimum sizes listed above will be required where the minimum planting sizes will not provide adequate screening or buffering within 2 years. Vegetation used to establish a visual screen must not be trimmed so as to stunt upward and outward growth or to otherwise limit the effectiveness of the visual screen.
(d) A berm or fence may be used in combination with vegetation to satisfy the screening requirement where deemed appropriate by county staff and the Planning Commission. Fences must be made of quality materials and enhance rather than detract from the beautification of the site. Berms and fences must be designed to avoid long, undifferentiated facades and long, plain sections by including a combination of the following design elements: variations in height, step-backs or recesses, changes in material, patterns, textures, colors, or use of accent materials.
(e) If security fencing is proposed, vegetative screening must be placed between the fence and the public view. Fencing must be made of high-quality materials. Chain-link and similar woven metal or plastic fencing must not be used. No barbed or razor wire may be used on the security fencing around the solar panels and accessories.
(f) If forest or hedgerows exist where screening or buffering is required, it must be preserved to the maximum extent practicable and supplemented with new plantings where necessary to provide the desired screening or buffering.
(g) All landscaping, screening, and buffering must be maintained in living condition.
(2) The Planning Commission may approve a modification to the landscaping, buffering, and screening standards where an alternate landscaping, buffering, and screening plan is proposed that meets the purpose and intent of these design requirements.
(G) Lighting. If lighting is proposed, then a lighting plan must be submitted in accordance with § 1-19-6.500. Lighting will provide the lowest level of illumination practicable to reduce impact on adjoining properties.
(H) Removal and restoration of the property.
(1) The property owner will provide a decommissioning and restoration plan as part of the site plan submission unless a decommissioning and restoration plan is included in the Public Service Commission's conditions of CPCN approval.
(2) The property owner will ensure the removal and disposal of all of the solar energy generating panels and accessories and the restoration of the site to its prior condition, by posting an acceptable monetary guarantee with the county on forms provided by the office of the Zoning Administrator. The guarantee must be for an amount equal to a cost estimate approved by the Zoning Administrator for the removal and disposal of the solar facility, plus a 15% contingency, ("guarantee amount"). The financial guarantee must be provided prior to the issuance of a building permit or grading permit, whichever is applied for first. Notice must be provided to the Zoning Administrator within 30 days of the sale or transfer of the lease and a new financial guarantee must be provided by the new lease holder. If a guarantee for the cost of removal and disposal of the solar panels and accessories and the restoration of the property is required by and provided to a state entity, the Zoning Administrator may accept documentation of the posting of the guarantee with the state entity as satisfaction of this requirement.
(3) When the commercial solar facility ceases to generate electricity, does not input electricity into the electric grid for 6 months, or the lease for the site expires, the site plan approval will terminate automatically and without notice from the county.
(4) Removal of the solar energy generating panels and accessories will begin within 90 days after termination of the site plan approval, and restoration of the property to the condition that existed prior to the installation of the solar energy generating panels and accessories will be completed within 6 months of the start of solar panel removal.
(5) Restoration will include the removal from the property of all above-ground facilities, as well as all underground footings, supports, wires, materials, fences, and berms.
(I) Notice to county. The property owner or owner of the solar energy generating panels and accessories must provide notice to the Zoning Administrator when the lease for the site expires, and when the commercial solar facility ceases to generate electricity or does not input electricity into the grid for 60 days or longer, unless due to routine maintenance activity.
(Bill No. 24-10, 7-16-2024)