A project for 1.8 MW of solar at 17700 Barnesville Road is moving toward a conditional use hearing.  More info from the solar developer about the project here. 
The project was called the Barnesville Solar project but is now called Mountain Vale Community Solar in response to resident feedback. 

ZTA 20-01 opened the Ag Reserve to community solar arrays of under 2 MW on sub prime soils (class 3 and above) that leave forests intact and avoid steep slopes. The ZTA established a conditional use process - the same as other industrial uses in the Reserve must go through. 

MCA will be watching the development of this array but so far this project looks to meet the stipulations of County policy. A larger map showing where signs will be posted to alert neighbors is here. Note that the triangle of forested area to the right to the map belongs to the same landowner will not hold any arrays or other infrastructure. 

While this project looks to be on the right side of county policies - two other developments are threating to tip the balance between solar and agriculture in the Reserve and across the state more broadly: 

1. Solar developer Chaberton Energy is attempting to sidestep local provisions that balance solar and faming in the Reserve and taking a proposal for solar on prime soils to the state. These arrays are larger than those currently allowed and are mostly on prime class 2 soils - taking the best soils out of production for a least a generation. 

2. General Assembly bill HB1036 and SB931 would allow solar arrays on all ag soils, mature forests and stream buffers - completely upending decades of conservation efforts at the local level and overriding master plans across the state.  Learn more and take action here. 

Curious about what's in your water?

Have you ever looked at your water quality report and wondered what it really means? Or do you rely on a well and want to know how to keep your drinking water safe?

Join us for a webinar where we will share some valuable insights and answer your questions. Water Quality Specialist with UMD University of Maryland Extension, Andy Lazur, will help us break it all down.

Here is the Recording of this webinar (slides from UMD Extension's Andy Lazur here  slides from the Good Gift Campaign in MoCo Here): 

Much more information can be found at our Good Gift Project site 

This webinar and the Good Gift Project are funded through the following grants and supporters like you - we'd be honored by your tax deductible support as we expand this pilot project.

The County Executive has launched a new Climate Smart program that asks residents to commit to small changes they can make to yield big results in emissions reductions for the county. 

More Information here

More to Explore:

-We worked with the MoCo Green Bank and Office of Ag to offer webinars and other resources for going solar on your home/business/farm

-Resources for homes on well and septic on how to save water

Data Centers are an entirely new (and unregulated) land use with massive resource needs:

• Many thousands of gallons of potable water to cool equipment 24/7
• Large areas of land to site warehouses - often taking farmland and open space
• Each data center has the constant, round the clock power needs of a small city - ratepayers can expect to see increases up to 70% in their bills in the next 5 years.
• When power can't come from the grid - that constant power comes from high emissions diesel generators.

Our digital lives require cloud storage but the rise of AI has made the need for data centers explode. Developers are looking all over the country and world for suitable places to site data centers. Maryland, particularly Western Maryland, with it's proximity to Virginia's 'data center alley' is appealing to the industry. 

But we have lots of questions about just where all these resources will come from and who ends up footing the bill. 

​That is why we support the Data Center Impact Analysis and Report Act (( HB270  SB116)) we are working with state and local partners in the Climate Justice Wing of the Maryland Legislative Coalition to support this and other common sense bills to protect our environment. We will be asking for folks to write in and testify on this bill - for now, please check out our fact sheet. 

How we use our prime agricultural lands matters. Flat, sunny, well drained soils are at a premium. Despite a compromise allowing solar in the Ag Reserve on non-prime soils as a conditional use in 2021, 2 solar projects are now applying to the state to end run the County's protections for prime soils in the Ag Reserve. All while solar companies inflate land values, putting acreage further out of reach for the new, diverse crop of local farmers in the only area set aside for farming. Above - a postcard to Ag Reserve residents offering 20 times what local farmers are paying per acre of land. ​

Background: 
Chaberton Energy has applied directly to the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) for two large solar projects  of 3-4 mw facilities in the Reserve - almost entirely on on prime farm soils in contradiction to the County’s zoning provisions. Much more about the Sugarloaf and Ramire proposals here.

Next Up 
The project proceeds at the PSC, MCA with partners have been granted intervenor status and we are mounting a defense of prime soils and our master plan. 

​Bonus: Misconceptions at the Planning Board
The ZTA is the factor preventing solar projects - false
 At the 1/9 hearing the Planning Board discussed whether and how to ask the Council to revisit the zoning provision for solar in the Reserve - ZTA 20-01 – with several board members arguing that only two projects being built in the Reserve since 2021 is cause for opening all prime soils to the industrial use.

The Planning department's own report (p.9) in December 2023 identified that zoning is not the central  issue holding back construction of new arrays. Instead, a long waitlist for interconnection with the utility and grid operator are the largest hurdles to making proposed arrays a reality. 

In fact PJM - the grid operator for much of the Mid-Atlantic - has the most severe backlog of new generation projects of any grid operator in the country - "projects entering the queue today have little chance of coming online before 2030."
All the same, more projects are being proposed through the county's conditional use process - including on sub-prime soils in Barnesville.

Agrivoltaics make this an Accessory to Farming - false
In the September 5 public hearing the planning board had asked the applicant, Chaberton Energy, to come up with an agrivoltaics plan. Their draft request for proposals (RFP) is here. 
The RFP visions that farmers might grow crops in the 7 feet between arrays and harvest them by hand. Water might be available - it might not be and no plants can be over 2.5' high.  It is clear that farming is an afterthought here - an opportunity to say that farming opportunities were offered but no farmers were able to meet the criteria of what becomes the industrial use supplanting agriculture.

The RFP says that this offer of free "farmland" in 7-foot strips will make a difference for the large number of farmers seeking affordable land. All while Chaberton is seeking approval for a project that takes prime soils out of farming for at least a generation in conflict with the master plan and drives up the cost of other unencumbered farmland that might have been available for these producers. (Check out our Land Link program to see local farmers seeking long term leases).

What do Ag Reserve farmers think about agrivoltaics? The Office of Ag says local farmers, like many, are seeking more data before embracing farming under solar arrays. OAGs thoughts about the Agrivoltaic RFP here.  The office wants to be clear that the office did not help draft the plan or sign off on the project in any way. 

MCA and colleagues  have  repeatedly asked that the County invest in a full-fledged agrivoltaics demonstration project on county land that can provide key data on whether compatibility of table crop and livestock production and solar arrays in our specific growing conditions.
Board member Hedrick said, “ we're talking about allowing a use on the AG Reserve that's a better use than anything that's currently going on on the acreage that's being proposed. Right here no one's talking about taking anything [sic] think about offering up an option for use of the AG Reserve which is inarguably both economically and environmentally a better use than most of it's currently put to.” 
This view represents a lack of knowledge of the agricultural production, supporting businesses, and ecological services that serve in the Reserve.

MCA has undertaken the Good Gift Campaign - building awareness and action around the Piedmont Sole Source Aquifer - the only potable source of water for residents in the Ag Reserve. 
This project kicked off with a baseline survey of county residents - check out the video above to hear our groundwater program coordinator Abby Mann go through the results. 

Abby's slides here
​
Infographic of the results here

Press Release Here

Much more about the Good Gift Groundwater Campaign here

Folks have likely been hearing about a number of proposed solar projects in the Reserve recently. 
There may be a lot of questions about why these proposals are happening now and how they fit in with the purpose of the Ag Reserve. 


Let's talk about it.  With our partners at Sugarloaf Citizens Association we met with folks on Zoom. Click below to see the video and access the slides from the meeting. ​

Thanks to all those that took the time to hear about how some solar proposals are balancing agriculture and some.... are not. From the slides we shared, here is what you can do to take action on this issue: 

• Read up – sign up for SCA/MCA newsletters and alerts - We are keeping tabs on both local solar proposals and new bills in Annapolis that may shake up solar siting. 
  
•  Reach out to electeds - Upholding MoCo's master plan and balanced approach to siting solar on farms at the state level is a job for our elected officials. Let them know your thoughts. You can write the whole council here.
  
• Attend conditional use hearings - The conditional use process is meant to take stock of the specific pros and cons of this use on this particular property. It is meant to be a transparent and inclusive process - you can get involved and have your say. The proposal for the array in Barnesville has not been submitted yet, but we will let folks know when to weigh in. 

You may still have questions we didn't get to in the info session - drop us a line- [email protected]

With an entirely new land use (Data Centers), one with inherently large needs for water and power, residents want to understand the implications - particularly when the project is to be sited in the AG Reserve and close to a  National Park. 

Understanding the resource use of the proposed data centers in Dickerson at the site of the shuttered Pepco plant has been difficult. Despite getting approval from planning staff, there is not yet a detailed site plan for this project. 

 MCA and our partners at Sugarloaf Citizens maintain that without a complete site plan that answers basic questions about how much water (from the Potomac - maybe some from the Aquifer) and power will be used there - this plan cannot be approved.

MCA attended the next step in the process, a hearing with the Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings. Hearing that the applicant had still not produced a full plan, MCA  asked to submit some community concerns to be added to the hearing record. Our concerns covered water, power, and how this large power draw and carbon emitter will fit in with County and State zero emissions policies- our full submission here. 

In response, the applicant, Terra Energy, had their attorney​ send a letter to the hearing examiner dismissing our concerns - your concerns - and ask that they be stricken from the record. (update - we have responded here)

Some key passages from the Attorney's letter: 

- "Moreover, the materials concern issues not applicable here (like ground water impact, use of agricultural land and climate change),..

-"Overall, the comments are both irrelevant and immaterial to the circumstances of this case. They either should be stricken or given little to no weight."

Water
-The results will be far superior to those of the last 70 years when a coal fired power plant operated on the site. As stated at the hearing, Applicant will have to obtain final permits for water withdrawal from the Maryland Department of the Environment once the final size of the proposed facilities, their location and the engineering details of the water system are determined.

-In terms of groundwater and the aquifer which the Countryside Alliance references, the claims also are irrelevant and immaterial. The water used for cooling will come from the Potomac River, not from any underground aquifer. Any well water from the aquifer will be very limited, for use only as normal drinking water and internal use for a very limited number of employees.

Digital infrastructure is an entirely new land use. The onus is on Terra Energy to show the public how this project fits into the county's climate goals and stewards our shared resources - particularly the Potomac. In the absence of concrete data that would be provided by a full site plan, invalidating real public concerns is not the way forward. 
​​

This year we are pleased to honor Doug Lechlider of Laytonsville Turf Farm with the Royce Hanson Ag Reserve Champion Award. 

Doug has been a stalwart collaborator, bringing voice to issues impacting farmers in the Reserve. His inclusive and level-headed approach has brought balance to a number of zoning issues that threaten to take farmland out of production. Doug served on the solar work group that found a path forward for solar in the Reserve that preserves prime soils and he was instrumental in championing farmland protections in a proposal to allow overnight stays as a conditional use in the Reserve. Doug is currently engaged in thoughtful advocacy for the Reserve's farms as solar developers seek state approval to put large arrays on prime soils in conflict with county policies. 

As a 5th generation farmer, Doug knows the importance of protecting farmland.  He grew up on a crop and livestock farm in Laytonsville, MD, taking part in 4 H and FFA. In 1989, soon after the creation of the Reserve, he started a landscape business specializing in erosion control. Since then, Laytonsville Turf Farm has grown from 40 acres of sod planted to prevent sedimentation to 700 acres of various crops farmed by Doug, his wife Robin and son Matthew. 

Doug's focus on erosion prevention has led to the use of innovative farming practices such as crop rotation, cover cropping and no-till farming. 

Doug puts in the time on his own farm but also and works productively with others to secure the protection of the Reserve, "​as citizens and Ag. leaders of MC it is important to educate ourselves, as well as new County leaders, of the purpose and importance the AR has to MC as well as the entire region. New pressures to open this area to commercial entities will only intensify. To this point I believe coalitions of different groups with similar goals is very important."

Doug makes time to be involved with the farming community - he serves on a number of boards and committees, including: Senior Farmers Club
Montgomery Agricultural Producers
Montgomery County Agricultural Fair
Montgomery County Agricultural Advisory Committee
Montgomery County Farm Bureau
Maryland Ag Commission
Maryland Agriculture Council
Turf Producers of MD

We are proud to honor this hard working and community minded farmer!

Neighbors are being alerted to a pre- application public meting about a 1.8 Megawatt community solar installation 17700 Barnesville Road in Barnesville. We are perplexed as to why there are signs about this proposal miles from this property and we are looking into this. 

The meeting will be on zoom on October 10 at 6:30pm.

Please RSVP by calling or sending an email to Morgan Abramson at (301) 961-8661 or at
[email protected].

See the full information here. 

​ZTA 21-01 made provision for this size of array to be located in the Reserve on Class 3 soils and above. We will await particulars about this specific proposal but it is an example of a solar developer going through the established conditional use process at the county level and providing opportunities for the public to understand the project in advance.

This is in stark contrast to another solar developer who is sidestepping local provisions that balance solar and faming in the Reserve and taking a proposal for solar on prime soils to the state. 
​

​The drought that has been hindering the region (and especially farmers) throughout the summer only briefly abated when the remnants of Hurricane Debby came through dropping several inches of rain in just a few days. We are back in the red, with no rain forecasted soon. 

This is troubling region wide but particularly in rural areas that rely on wells - no reservoir can be tapped to replenish groundwater. 

MCA has undertaken a research and outreach program for the county's water resources. Check out the "Good Gift" campaign. 

You can help - please take 10 minutes to answer anonymous questions about your well and local groundwater supplies. 

Related: How to Conserve water at home
​The Good Gift in PLENTY Magazine

Update 10/19/24: MCA submitted a document of public concerns to the hearing examiner about missing specifics on how this proposal will fit into county and state climate goals and the Potomac's water level, among other concerns. The applicant's attorney wants these concerns (your concerns) stricken from the record. 

Update: Data Center Emissions Exemption Passes MCA with partners opposed a bill in the General Assembly that would allow diesel generators of any size, and quantity in any location to provide backup power to data centers without oversight of the Public Service Commission. With the addition of a provision to provide 15% of tax revenues from this novel land use to fund environmental protection, the bill passed before the end of the session. Learn More. 

Related: WaPo: Internet data centers are fueling drive to old power source: Coal
Grist: The Surging Demand for Data is Guzzling Virginia's Water Supply

Montgomery County Data Center Updates: 
Currently no regulatory framework exists in the state or county to govern data centers. County Executive Elrich is now working with the county climate change officer to establish one in MoCo. The first step is researching best practices in use nationally and globally for sustainably meeting the outsized needs for water, land and power of this unique use.  (Iceland, for example)
MCA continues to collaborate with the owners of the Terra Energy facility proposed for the former Pepco plant to advocate for care in siting and operation of these centers along the Potomac. 

Quantum Loophole continues to run afoul of MDE rules - The Frederick News Post reports a stop work order was issued for a drilling project in Frederick County for the fiberoptic cable loop stretching from Adamstown across to "Data Center Alley" in Virginia. The contractor was drilling without telling the county and may have released drilling materials into underground water aquifers. To link the two updates - Quantum Loophole at full buildout will use power equivalent to 400,000 homes (12 Fredericks or 4 Baltimores).

Frederick County Data Center Workgroup Report Released
from our partners at Sugarloaf Alliance:
"The Frederick County Data Centers Workgroup (DCWG) released its final report on March 1 (read the text here). Generally speaking, the recommendations agree with Sugarloaf Alliance positions, including the recommendation that data centers not be sited in Treasured Landscapes, and the report specifically mentions Sugarloaf Mountain. Read the Frederick News Post report here. The report is in the hands of the County Executive, and her administration is expected to make recommendations for legislation governing data centers in Frederick County. We still don’t have information about legislation or timing."

Montgomery Countryside Alliance and our partners at Sugarloaf Citizens Association are continuing to carefully monitor the proposal as many as 20 data centers and a large scale grid battery storage facility at the former PEPCO Power Plant in Dickerson. The new property owner Terra Innovations will file for conditional use approval for the project very soon.
Here are the concerns and recommendations submitted by both organizations to the applicant.
We continue to advocate for both state and county regulations to guide this land use. Currently the data center land-use does not have a regulatory framework.

Some maps from the Terra Innovations site showing property boundaries and zoning:

Pieces of this property are part of the Ag Reserve as shown above

Much More: 
Community Meeting with SCA, MCA and Sugarloaf Alliance on Data Center Concerns
​Northern VA has a Data Center Problem
Data Centers in N VA are nearing a tipping point
​Quantum Loophole to Bore under Potomac is 3 places to lay data center infrastructure
​Quantum Loophole cited for many MDE violations - stop work order issued

The Data is in: See the full report and preface "A Study on the Reliable Drought Yields of Poolesville's Public Water Supply Wells" 
​
Also the Press Release 

It has been dry: The first regional drought watch has been issued since 2010 by the Washington Council of Governments (COG)

The Town of Poolesville has requested, and MDE has granted in the past, in response to temporary public health issues, higher water allocation amounts (gallons per day water withdrawals) than the flow data show the can be sustained within a single watershed -hundreds of thousands of gallons per day over what the aquifer can sustain.  Hammond cautions that overallocation is being used to support  projected growth. He advises that the Town should identify additional groundwater capability in the last remaining watershed first before approving future development.


Good, accurate, up-to-date data will best inform the Town's  comprehensive plan, helping to stave off future water availability issues and further degradation of area streams that flow into the Potomac River upstream from the WSSC water system intake. We are heartened to hear that the Town is receptive to Hammond's reporting.
​
An extensive summary of Mr. Hammond's study as presented to the Poolesville Commissioners  can be found here. 
The final report can be found here - a fully formatted version is forthcoming.


So what now? 
MCA is pleased to announce that this aquifer study is the first part of a multi-year research and outreach campaign to bring attention and action around safeguarding upcounty water resources. Please stay tuned for ways to get involved coming soon! In the meantime - check out these water conservation tips and septic tips. 

This aquifer monitoring and outreach project is powered by a Clean Water Montgomery Award, funded by the Chesapeake Bay Trust and Montgomery County. 

How we use our prime agricultural lands matters. Flat, sunny, well drained soils are at a premium. Despite a compromise allowing solar in the Ag Reserve on non-prime soils as a conditional use in 2021, 2 solar projects are now applying to the state to end run the County's protections for prime soils in the Ag Reserve. All while solar companies inflate land values, putting acreage further out of reach for the new, diverse crop of local farmers. 

More info on the Ramire Project in Poolesville
More info on the Sugarloaf  Project in Dickerson​

2 solar projects have applied directly to the MD Public Service Commission (PSC) for approval of their 4-5 mw facilities in the Reserve - on prime farm soils in contradiction to the County’s zoning provisions.

State Legislation has opened this path and concern mounts that conservation goals and laws will be compromised if the PSC allows projects to move forward regardless of how they might affect carefully crafted provisions for renewable projects. 
Moreover, currently there is a backlog of projects on less than prime soils that have gone through the County's process - the grid operators are unable to take more power. 

The arguments of those seeking solar on prime farmland remain unchanged from the original MC solar ZTA debate in 2021 including and outrageously that the Reserve represents failure… farming here does not contribute to our food system.

Our central argument is unchanged:

Panels should not be erected on prime farmland, defined as nearly level, with deep, well-drained soil capable of producing food without irrigation. These are class I and II soils in the USDA’s soil capability classification system. 

In Montgomery County these lands were set aside for Agriculture. When these lands are open to industrial uses the economics of farming are upended. Solar companies are offering 100 times the rate farmers are paying per acre. 

The purchase of farmland is already out of reach for aspiring farmers - a fact leading to the creation of our Land Link Montgomery program to connect new and expanding farmers with long term land leases. The land seekers in the program are almost entirely aspiring farmers of color, many of them immigrants, more than half women. AfriThrive, as profiled below is just one of several successful matches increasing local food production in the Ag Reserve - with more farmers seeking land each year. 

More Background: 
​

• Resources for MoCo Homes, Businesses and Farms Going Solar
  
  
• Position Paper from Sugarloaf Citizens Association
  
  
• ​Harvard Study: "More solar energy needed, but clearing forests for panels may not be way to do it"
  
  
• "Driving Farmers off the Land" - a paper by Alfred Wurglitz
  
  
• Land Link Farmer Profile: AfriThrive - Bridging the divide between food security and cultural integrity
  ​
• Maryland Matters Opinion: Preserve farmland and prioritize solar arrays in the built environment
  ​
• ​Chesapeake Conservancy - Solar Siting Methodology for Local and State Governments

Letters to just one local landowner promising between $1500-4000/acre per year to lease farmland for solar. An acre for farming usually goes for just under $200/year. 

​Call for Vendors

Pop-up Farmers and Artisans Market
Sunday, September 15, 2024
11am - 3pm
Linden Farm, Dickerson

Montgomery Countryside Alliance is hosting the 17th annual Ride for the Reserve Fall bike tour. In addition to the bike ride and picnic, we're incorporating a pop-up Farmers and Artisans Market. 

Space is free.

We're looking for all kinds of vendors selling items such as pumpkins, fruit, veggies, prepared foods, sweets, bakery items, flowers, fiber arts, vintage, arts/crafts or providing services such as massage, face painting, and more!

Contact Mindy at [email protected] for more information or to reserve your spot.

At the committee hearing for this ZTA on 7/22 (video here) there was very little discussion of the concerns about this ZTA expressed by farmers and Ag Reserve residents. 
Notably - the issue of how allowing portable generators to power these recreation structures goes against the county's emissions targets and actions to limit noise pollution. 

​The County banned gas powered blower use/sale. Research indicates that RV/portable generators emit roughly the same level of sound - Generators between 70-100 db. This ZTA permits both RVs and structures that could each operate generators without restriction other than being 100 from a property line. A maximum of 10 units potentially simultaneously operating generators? Legislators should account for these scenarios in determining how compatible the change in land use will be with rural communities.
Anything other than a generator hooked to the electrical system should not be allowed as part of this conditional use. 
The Council votes on this ZTA Tuesday the  30th- please take two minutes to write them on this topic.

Prior Updates: 

Background on the original ZTA:

We just got an update from the landowner at our very first Re-Leaf site, our pilot acre planted there in Dickerson beside the Little Monocacy river is doing great! 

Re-Leaf the Reserve is our partnership with the Department of Parks and Planning to plant native forests along stream buffers in the Ag Reserve. These forests are encumbered with easements to ensure they stand to benefit generations of MoCo residents. 

Our continued thanks to the Seelys at Gardens by Garth who install the trees with care and ensure they get the best start, Carole Bergmann who chairs the program and our partners at Parks and Planning that make the program possible.  
​
As of today we have planted thousands of trees across many local sites. Can you host a forest? We are looking for stream buffers in the Ag Reserve  - learn more here. 
Down County folks can get free and reduced priced trees through  Tree Montgomery and Reforest Montgomery.​

​Have you ever wanted to grow mushrooms?   I’m a gardener wanna be.  I attempt fruit and vegetable plants like cucumbers, squash, and lettuce, but I seem to do a better job at growing weeds than these edible delights.  I keep trying tho!   Recently I decided to add mushrooms to my garden!  They have always intrigued me.   I signed up for a mushroom workshop with Michael Judd of Ecologia Design, author of “Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist” and “For the Love of PawPaws."

Michael's passion for mushrooms runs very deep…deep into the nutrient rich soil fungi help create for the whole ecosystem as they break down fallen trees, dead leaves, and plants.  Michael has worked side by side with mycelium to create his own sustainable haven in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains just outside of Frederick, Maryland. ​