Brian Carroll pulled no punches with his valid criticism of Isle of Wight County supervisors who have repeatedly thumbed their noses at the recommendations of their own Planning Commission.

“Amen,” said fellow Planning Commissioner Jennifer Boykin when Carroll completed his prepared remarks at the end of the commission’s Sept. 24 meeting.

Amen indeed. 

Supervisors have much work to do to regain the confidence of planning commissioners, who must be wondering why they continue to invest hours in studying important rezoning matters only to have their advice ignored by a narrow majority of the Board of Supervisors.

Supervisors’ 3-2 approval of the county’s 11th and largest solar farm on Sept. 19 was the third time this year that the board has overturned a vote by its Planning Commission.

“The Board of Supervisors used incredible hypocrisy and double standards in the recent solar projects,” Carroll said. “I am extremely disappointed in the board and the way they handled them.”

The Planning Commission voted overwhelmingly to recommend denial of AES Clean Energy’s conditional use permit for Sycamore Cross, a 240-megawatt solar farm that will, in Carroll’s words, bring “miles and miles of solar panels” to the Isle of Wight-Surry county line. Supervisors approved the project anyway.

Likewise, supervisors overrode a 7-2 July recommendation by the Planning Commission to reject a permit for Elk Development LLC for another solar farm.

In May, supervisors voted 3-2 to approve mixed-use zoning for Sweetgrass, a proposed 615-home development on Benns Church Boulevard, despite planners having voted 6-2 in December to recommend denial of the plan.

While we take Supervisor William McCarty’s point that supervisors see projects through a “different lens” – primarily the fiscal health of county government – than planning commissioners, overturning their recommendations should be rare and done only in extraordinary circumstances. Rather, such decisions have become the norm.

If supervisors deem themselves to be consistently smarter and better informed, it’s going to become nearly impossible to find good citizens willing to commit the time to the thankless job of planning commissioner. 

Of McCarty’s “different lens” comments, “I would suggest he looked at them through mule blinders,” Carroll quipped.

He was especially irked – for good reason – that developers are allowed to amend their plans after Planning Commission rejection and gain approval from supervisors without the new plan going back to planners for review.