Isle of Wight County’s Planning Commission has scheduled a Nov. 22 public hearing on a proposed 71-megawatt solar farm and substation in the Zuni area.

According to a public notice published in The Smithfield Times’ Nov. 9 edition, the solar farm would span 20 parcels totaling 637 acres, some of which would be non-contiguous.

The parcels are located off Yellow Hammer Road, Windsor Boulevard, Winston Drive, Cut Thru Road, Ecelia Road, Barrett Town Road, Mill Creek Drive and Antioch Road.

Carver Solar I LLC has applied for a conditional use permit on behalf of 17 county landowners. According to Virginia State Corporation Commission records, the company’s principal office is located in Austin, Texas.

Once the Planning Commission recommends approval or denial of the requested permit, the matter will head to Isle of Wight’s Board of Supervisors for a final decision. If approved, Carver would become the seventh utility-scale solar farm approved in the county.

Isle of Wight’s only operational solar farm, a 20-megawatt facility known as Woodland, occupies 180 acres off Longview Drive. It began generating power in 2017.

In 2018, Isle of Wight approved another 20-megawatt farm known as Solidago on 193 acres near the Isle of Wight County Courthouse. The roughly 300-acre, 40-megawatt Ho-Fel farm received initial approval in 2019 and is proposing to expand.

The county also approved the 730-acre, 85-megawatt Windsor PV-1 farm in 2019. It is to be located just outside Windsor’s town limits. In 2021, Isle of Wight approved the 240-megawatt Cavalier farm, which will span 1,750 acres across the Isle of Wight-Surry county border.

This year, the county approved a sixth farm known as Nuby Run, which will generate 2 megawatts and occupy 20 acres on Orbit Road.

The Planning Commission’s Nov. 22 meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the boardroom of the county’s government complex at Monument Circle.