FAYETTEVILLE -- A business that had failed to follow Washington County's planning and zoning regulations was granted a conditional use permit on Thursday by the county's Planning Board.
The board voted 4-3 to approve a permit for JMP Solutions' existing facility at 3292 S. Cato Springs Road and a warehouse currently under construction at 3322 S. Cato Springs Road.
The decision to grant the permit can be appealed to the Washington County Quorum Court.
The entire parcel of land is about 20.4 acres in size and is on the west side of Cato Springs Road, about three-quarters of a mile from Interstate 49. According to information from the Planning Department, JMP Solutions is engaged in the design and assembly of poultry-processing equipment. The business is described as a light fabrication and assembly operation. The currently operating business is in one 60,000-square-foot building, and the warehouse building will be another 60,000-square-foot building, according to county planners.
County planners said the original building was initially proposed as a horse barn, which would have been in compliance with the agricultural use of the property. A neighboring property owner contacted the county five or six weeks ago when it became apparent the use of the building was changing. Changing the use necessitated the application for a conditional use permit.
A large-scale development plan for the new building will have to be approved by the county.
Also Thursday, the Planning Board voted unanimously to approve a conditional use permit for a solar-power-generating field for DG Hydra LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources Development LLC, on 92.6 acres of land 2.3 miles south of Greenland on the east side of Campbell Road and west of Interstate 49.
The proposed three solar energy fields will be a 5-megawatt alternating current facility that will be built on about 35 acres of now vacant land at the site. The facility will have 15,000 solar panels that will generate electricity for the Ozarks Electric Cooperative energy grid and reduce the need for imported power from outside the Ozarks Electric Cooperative service territory, according to information provided to the Planning Department.
The project has an expected life of 30 years, and the company said the solar farm will be "decommissioned" at the end of that time with much of the material used in the panels -- silicon, glass and aluminum -- being suitable for recycling.
Several neighbors spoke in opposition to the proposal, citing the disturbance of the rural character of the area and the potential that the solar farm will devalue their properties.
Land in unincorporated Washington County is zoned for agricultural or single-family residential use. All other uses require the property owner to obtain a conditional use permit through the county’s planning process. The permits must be approved by the Washington County Planning Board and the Quorum Court.
Print Headline: Planners OK permits for fabrication business, solar farm
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