Cleveland residents who support solar farm project question lawsuit by county

Cleveland County residents waiting in limbo over a stalled solar farm project that is at the center of a lawsuit spoke out recently at a county commissioner meeting.

Last Christmas, some of the six landowners delivered letters to the county commissioner’s chamber asking them to support the solar farm, which consists of around 500 acres of land off of New Prospect Church Road.

These land owners receive payments for leasing their land to the solar company and could potentially lose out on 40 years of solar lease payments if the county wins the fight against Brookcliff Solar, according to Ben Stockdale project development manager for Birch Creek, which helps develop solar generation projects.

Brookcliff Solar was granted a conditional use permit for the project in 2020, but that permit expired last year and the Cleveland County Board of Adjustment denied them a new permit. Brookcliff took it to court and filed an appeal and won that appeal. The county has now filed to appeal that decision.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Stuart Sloan spoke on behalf of his family and the other local landowners. He said he and his wife moved to the county in 2020, but his wife’s family has a 100 year history as local civic and business leaders and they currently live in the historic Joshua Beam home, one of the oldest in the county.

More: Cleveland County landowners ask commissioners to allow 500-acre solar farm to move forward

“We’ve always believed that good ideas and opportunities could help people prosper,” Sloan said.

He said they were surprised when they heard about the lawsuit against the solar project approved for their land and that of their neighbors and want to know why that is.

“The Brookcliff Solar project is a good thing for our family and historic home and adjacent parcels,” Sloan said. “It would deliver a quiet, passive odorless use for land that won’t bother any of our neighbors and for the most part will be unseen from public roads.”

He said alternative uses to generate income won’t be nearly as passive.

“We live on the land so nobody would be as impacted by the project as we are,” he said. “We want to sustain and care for this land for generations to come. We love it here but the property and home are expensive to maintain.  We think its worth the time and resources to keep this place up for ourselves and our children.”

Sloan said the solar farm would bring tax money to the county without costing anything in return.

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“It benefits everyone, us, the county and the community. I struggle to understand why the county wants to fight this project in court. Please let the project move forward, it’s the right thing to do for all of us.”

Five years ago, Cleveland County Board of Adjustment held an evidentiary hearing and voted to approve Brookcliff Solar’s request for a conditional use permit for a solar energy facility, according to a letter from the planning department.

Deputy County Attorney Martha Thompson previously told The Star that that special-use permit, which granted Brookcliff an additional 13 months, expired in January 2023, but no work was completed during that time. Once it expired, the company appealed but were denied a new permit. Brookcliff appealed to the Superior Court and according to court documents, on Oct. 29, Judge Todd Pomeroy sided with Brookcliff Solar, stating they had a right to continue with the project despite the expired time limit. The county is now appealing that decision.

Stockdale said the county is spending taxpayer money on the lawsuit. He said he submitted a public records request to find out how much the county is paying the Raleigh law firm, Smith Anderson.

He said he was told they have spent around $40,000 so far.

“They are doling out over $400 an hour, though I am skeptical of the total $40k figure they provided given this case has dragged on for over a year,” he wrote in an email to The Star. “At the very least, I doubt there are any other Cleveland County residents getting paid this much with tax dollars, and they could have funded an additional teacher salary instead of fighting this solar project that will benefit the county and its residents.”

Donna Wallace, another landowner, also spoke Tuesday. She said she was speaking on behalf of her and her husband, William. She said solar energy is good for the environment and a reliable, cost efficient energy saver which also make money for the county through federal and state tax credits. She said the solar project will benefit not just her family, but for future generations.

Brookcliff and others have lots of money invested in this project and to stop this now would really be a shame,” Wallace said. “It’s just heartbreaking. I’ve prayed over this, cried over this and said a lot of bad words over this.”

She said they had to relocate for the project to move forward, and now they’re at a standstill.