Solar power facility plan advances

Supervisors approve permit for Foothills project

A special use permit for a new solar field in the Foothills area was approved by the Board of Supervisors Monday, paving the way for a facility that could power up to 24,000 homes, according to the developer.

Invenergy Solar Development is leasing 600 acres from the Arizona State Land Department to build a 110-megawatt facility, just south of an existing solar farm operated by Arizona Public Service. Rich Hamilton, agent for the Chicago-based company, said it hopes to have all phases completed and operational by 2020.

The pole-mounted solar panels will wrap around APS’s facility, running From Fortuna Road almost to Foothills Boulevard along County 14th Street, which is the northern bor- der of the Barry M. Goldwater Range.

Hamilton faced the same questions from the supervisors as he did when the project was recommended for approval by the county Planning and Zoning Commission in February by a 7-1 vote: Should Invenergy be required to pave the surrounding roads, even though it isn’t anticipated to create much traffic?

The sole supervisor who raised the issue Monday was Board Chairman Tony Reyes of District 4. He said long-range planning establishes County 14th Street as a major loop road for the Foothills area. Currently it’s paved from Foothills Boulevard east to Avenue 15E, but is unpaved between Foothills and Avenue 7E.

Construction traffic from 55 temporary employees will get to the site using

paved roads at the intersection of 40th Street and Avenue 12E. The eventual four to five permanent employees will use Scottsdale Drive to get to work.

Planning and Zoning Director Maggie Castro said road-building requirements are based on how many trips to and from the proposed project are expected per day.

“There is no mechanism to require that this developer pay for any future road improvements. There is no nexus to require improvements as part of this project. This project at completion will have five employees, so to require the developer to build a section-line road to county standards, the nexus isn’t there,” she said.

Castro said a residential project would face that requirement on the basis of the expected trips to be generated to and from the development, a standard that can’t be reached on the basis of this facility’s employees.

“When you say no, it sounds so definite,” Reyes said, noting APS agreed to build a road to county standards before its solar project was approved in 2012.

Castro replied that it wasn’t required. The utility voluntarily agreed to do so because there was significant opposition, and employees driving to and from there on an unpaved road was a concern.

Reyes said, “I just find it objectionable that we ask every other developer to do that, and we can’t. In terms of any residential development, they would be asked to do that because they’re a residential development, and we don’t want people to drive on unimproved roads.”

When asked about Inve- nergy’s position on building adjacent roads, Hamilton said the company “is always involved in the community,” but as a rule doesn’t pass on construction costs to customers of its projects. The company has existing projects in North and South America, Europe and Asia.

“What happens is the cost of the project goes up, and my rates may not be as competitive as the next solar project, in which case we may not have a project,” he said. “My job is to control costs in the early stage.”

Reyes reluctantly voted “yes” on the project, along with the other four supervisors. District 5 Supervisor Lynne Pancrazi said she had no problem with County 14th staying as is, to keep traffic farther away from the Goldwater range.

In other action Monday, the board:

• Held zoning rever- sion hearings on seven properties on which the landowners had not met the required development schedule. The board has the choice of either changing the zoning back to what it was before or granting the owner an extension to meet the deadline.

The board reverted zoning on two properties in the Foothills, continued the hearing on a property in Wellton to the June 18 meeting, and gave extensions ranging from two to five years on the remaining cases, affecting parcels near Yuma, in the Foothills and in Tacna.

• Appointed six members to the newly reformed Parks and Recreation Commission: Sergio Davalos and Judith Gill from District 1, Rosalie Lines and Tim Gilliland from District 2 and Barbara Cavanaugh and Linda Elliot for District 3. District 4 and 5 representatives will be named at fu- ture meetings.

The dormant board is being revived as the first step for the county to apply for grants to create a park next to the Foothills Library, and possibly for other parks on county property being maintained by other groups.

Foothills Resident James Stange said he’s part of a group of people who have been talking about the need for public open space in that area. “We need a park. We need one for events... and also the kids don’t have anyplace to stay, the population is growing out there with younger members. Also we have our pets that we like to walk around, and we don’t necessarily want to keep walking in the streets, when we need our exercise.”

• Approved three contracts for upgraded equipment at the county detention center: $1.1 million with Convergint Technolo-

gies for a security system upgrade, $395,000 with Copper State Fire to replace fire alarms, and $119,000 with Electronic Security Concepts to replace security cameras.

• Authorized a contract with KNOWiNK to purchase 75 electronic polling books for $154,000, replacing aging equipment that contributed to delays during the November 2016 election.

• Set a public hearing and vote on proposed changes to Yuma County Library District fees for May 7.

• Heard a report on the road maintenance program and designation of “primitive roads,” which will be covered in a future Yuma Sun story.

• Held a closed executive session to consider County Administrator Susan Thorpe’s annual performance review.