City Council Meeting Date: October 5, 2021
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: Mikayla Schmidt, City Planner
Title
Conditional Use Permit Resolution for 1MW Community Solar Garden for SV CSG Northfield, LLC.
Body
Action Requested:
The City Council is asked to review and approve the resolution for a Conditional Use Permit applied for SV CSG Northfield, LLC for a 1MW Community Solar Garden.
Summary Report:
The Community Development Department received a proposal from SV CSG Northfield, LLC for a 1-megawatt Community Solar Garden (CSG) as a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) in the Agricultural Zoning District (A-S). The site is located at PID 43-02700-50-030, north of Highway 19/330th St. W. and west of Garrett Ave. in Dakota County. This project will consist of the solar panels on approximately 8 acres of land as part of a 32.37-acre parcel of land owned by Michael and Eileen Tste Devney. CSG's typically have a service period of 25-35 years.
The Planning Commission (PC) held a public hearing on the CUP at their August meeting. No comment was given during the public hearing, but subsequently, staff received input from the property owner of 3851 330th St. W.'s son, Edric Lynse. Mr. Lynse provided anecdotal accounts of the wildlife on the property and is in favor of maintaining the wildlife corridors to the fullest extent.
The proposed project identifies solar field infrastructure in locations that conflict with the City's Comprehensive Plan, Transportation Plan, which identifies a future north/south roadway corridor along the western portion of the site. At the August PC meeting, the PC postponed making recommendations to Council until further site details were reviewed by staff and the applicant given the proposed major collector on the west side of the property and the wildlife corridors. Staff and the applicant discussed the site, the wildlife corridors, location of the right-of-way (ROW) and lifespan of the panels. From that discussion,...
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