SCH Number 2026010135

Project Info

Title

USE PERMIT AND LOT LINE ADJUSTMENT APPLICATION NO. PLN2025-0103 - LAYMAN

Description

Request to construct, operate, and maintain a 2± acre one-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) solar energy farm on an 11.08± acre parcel in the General Agriculture (A-2-40) zoning district. The facility will be unmanned with a few occasional site visits expected per year for routine maintenance and cleaning. The site will be remotely monitored, with no full-time employees reporting to the site. No permanent restrooms, offices, or other on-site structures related to the facility are proposed. The applicant has proposed enclosing the solar farm with six-foot-tall chain link fencing. If approved, construction is anticipated to occur within 18 months of project approval. The project will be interconnected with the Modesto Irrigation District (MID) as part of its Feed-in Tarriff program. No battery energy storage is proposed at this time. Access is proposed to be taken off County-maintained St. Francis Avenue via an existing driveway. The site is served by an existing private well and septic system. The applicant indicated that the soil is infected with Armillaria root rot (also known as oak root fungus). This fungus spreads underground through affected soil and gradually cuts off infected trees’ abilities to transport water and nutrients, leading to progressive decline and eventual death of infected trees. Even after infected trees are removed, the fungus remains active in buried roots and woody debris, making complete eradication through conventional agricultural practices extremely difficult. The solar array is intended to create a long-term fallow condition that allows the fungus to naturally diminish over the course of the project’s proposed 20-year lifespan. At the end of the project’s lifespan, all equipment will be removed using shallow extraction methods, allowing the land to be returned to agricultural use without permanent soil disturbance. The proposed footprint of the PV solar panel is located across both Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) 004-017-028 and 004-017-038. APN 004-017-028 (11.48± acres) is uncontracted while 004-017-038 (9.6± acres) is enrolled under Williamson Act Contract No. 1975-1933. A lot line adjustment is being requested with the subject use permit application to reconfigure and adjust the two project parcels from 9.6± and 11.48± acres to 10± and 11.08± acres. If the proposed lot line adjustment is approved, a rescission of the existing Williamson Act contract will occur, which will allow the proposed solar energy farm to be placed entirely on the resultant 11.08± acre, non-Williamson Act contracted parcel and the adjusted 10± acre parcel to be enrolled into a new Williamson Act Contract.

2 documents in project