Editor, The Smithfield Times:

Something doesn’t smell right, and the stench isn’t burning lithium ion batteries from a solar project.

Many were thrilled when the 11-member Surry County Planning Commission voted unanimously on Aug. 26 to deny substantial accord for Sycamore Cross Solar. Its vote confirmed that this massive solar project was not aligned with (in “substantial accord” with) Surry County’s Comprehensive Plan 2040.

Some 5½ weeks later, the Surry County Board of Supervisors met, and – as has become habit – three supervisors voted as a block, overturning the Planning Commission and allowing this massive solar project to move forward to the next step. How is it that when Supervisor Breyon Pierce (the only Board of Supervisors member who also sits on the Planning Commission) shares a room with his peers and fellow citizens on the Planning Commission, he votes “no” for substantial accord, and just 5½ weeks later, seated next to powerful personalities like Walter Hardy and Robert Eliott, he votes the exact opposite?

Mr. Hardy’s assertions that the Planning Commission was wrong, and the three supervisors are right, just doesn’t hold water. There’s something else at play here. It appears that three supervisors, aligned with key staff who don’t live in Surry County, are working toward their own agenda as opposed to the county’s best interests, the citizens’ wishes and the county’s own Comprehensive Plan.

I am sorely disappointed in how power is wielded in Surry County.

 

Dr. Daniel A. Shaye

Surry