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By: Daniel Evans — Contributing Writer

White Marsh Road may soon have a second solar farm, but at the Suffolk City Council meeting on Nov. 20, most of the talk focused on the loud noise coming from a nearby site, which belongs to a different company.
The council voted unanimously to table discussion for 30 days on granting a conditional use permit for the site, proposed for 1380, 1390, 1398, and 1400 White Marsh Road, after a lengthy discussion. The motion, a substitute motion by Councilman LeOtis Williams, delayed a vote until Dec. 18 to give representatives with Nexamp, the solar energy company overseeing the site, a chance to reach out to more residents.
Leroy Bennett made the original motion to deny the request entirely, but it never went to a vote.
Nexamp’s proposed site would be on four properties, totaling 137 acres. The site itself would only take up about 14 acres of the total acreage.
The site would be within a mile of the Stratford Solar site on the same road, and several residents complained about the noise levels from that project.
Erick Alves de Sa, a representative of Nexamp and the development manager for Scarp Solar, said the company’s site would produce much less power – only 3 megawatts compared to the Stratford site’s 20 megawatts, which would result in much less noise. Plus, inverters, which produce much of the noise on a solar site, would be at the back of the property instead of in the front, like at the Stratford site.
Since the Stratford site was approved and constructed, the city of Suffolk has also passed an ordinance related to solar sites that requires a noise study, which the company has complied with.
“Our project meets or exceeds all code requirements based on a new solar ordinance that was passed by the city and [went] into effect about a year ago,” Alves de Sa said.
Tiffany Alexander, who lives across the street from the Stratford Solar site, played audio from what it sounds like at her home. She’s lived on her family farm her entire life, but she said the constant noise has dramatically impacted their lives.
“This is constant,” Alexander said, saying it has impacted her health. “It goes from 6 something in the morning, and sometimes it’s 5, sometimes it’s 9 or 10 o’clock at night … it’s very disruptive to our sleep. We can’t have the windows open.”
Sanny Cogliandro, who also lives near the Stratford Solar Site, also spoke in opposition, calling the site a “monstrosity” and an “eyesore.” He said all of his neighbors are against it.
“The ruination of these two beautiful farms could not have been engineered more perfectly if these farms had been bombed from the sky,” Cogliandro said. “I’m referring to the Jarvis Hunter and William T. Hunter Farms, which are across the road from me. I knew both of those gentlemen; they were honorable gentlemen, and they’d turn over in their graves if they could see what their land has become.”
Councilwoman Shelley Butler Barlow noted the proposed Nexamp solar site has received a “black eye” from the Stratford site.
“That’s hard to overcome, and that’s on us because it took a while to reinforce the ordinances,” Butler Barlow said, noting it sounds like the company has done its due diligence.
Mayor Michael Duman asked that city staff investigate the Stratford site to determine whether it meets the city’s code conditions.
“We don’t take those things lightly,” Duman said of the noise complaints.
Alves de Sa said the Nexamp proposed project will produce enough energy to power approximately 500 homes. Low- to moderate-income homes in Suffolk will be able to sign up and receive a 10% to 15% savings on their energy bills.
Following the decision to table discussion on the Nexamp site, in an unrelated project, the council voted 7-1 to grant a two-year extension for a conditional use permit for a solar energy facility on Indian Trial. The permit will now continue through 2027.