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

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 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 facility will be unmanned with a few occasional site visits expected per year for routine maintenance and cleaning. 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. The Agricultural Element of the Stanislaus County General Plan, specifically Policy 2.5, Implementation Measure Three, encourages the development of alternative energy sources on lands located outside of the County’s “Most Productive Agricultural Areas.” Until the term "Most Productive Agricultural Areas" is defined on a county-wide basis, the term will be determined on a case-by-case basis when a proposal is made for the conversion of agricultural land. Factors to be considered include but are not limited to soil types and potential for agricultural production; the availability of irrigation water; ownership and parcelization patterns; uniqueness and flexibility of use; the existence of Williamson Act contracts; existing uses and their contributions to the agricultural sector of the local economy. 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.