The San Diego County Planning Commission voted unanimously Friday to delay action on the Starlight Solar project at the request of community members who said they are concerned about the scale of the development and need more time to review the proposal.
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The controversial proposal would industrialize about 588 acres near Old Highway 80 within the unincorporated East County community of Boulevard. Plans include a solar farm capable of generating up to 100 megawatts and a 217-megawatt battery energy storage system, constructed in two phases.
“We have a town hall coming up, but we’re going to have a lot of questions that need answers,” Deborah Peck, a Boulevard resident, said. “A lot of the community still doesn’t know that it’s a different project … that (project) is huge, and I don’t understand a lot of it.”
Opponents of the Starlight Solar Project have expressed concerns about the proposal and what they have described as a growing trend bringing large clean energy developments to their town and similar backcountry communities.
Boulevard residents are pushing back, citing fire concerns associated with battery storage as their largest worry. As negotiations continue, residents asked for changes to be made to the project, including relocation of the battery storage system, 10-foot separations between each storage container, additional fire studies, larger property setbacks, an additional evacuation route and a $7 million community benefit fund to put toward local projects.
The draft final environmental impact report for the project — released on June 1 — included a plume study, which analyzed potential fire hazards.
“Given the potential risk of toxicity hazards during failure scenarios of the battery energy storage system, appropriate emergency response protocols should be considered and developed in collaboration with local emergency personnel,” the .
A significant portion of the town’s 752 residents are elderly and disabled, Boulevard resident Karen Parker said, while asking county officials to delay the hearing.
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“It’s a very underserved population, they’re not able to email, they have no cell service, no WiFi,” Parker said. “They do not know when the planning group meetings are. These are property owners and tenants alike, and this is 53% of the population of Boulevard that had no idea what’s happening.”
Jim Whalen, a consultant for the developer, said he would support a maximum 30-day continuation.
“The project’s been in the process for five years,” Whalen noted. “The community group has had over 60 meetings on it, and we think that there’s been more than enough time.”
Veronica Santos, tribal preservation officer for the Manzanita Band of the Kumeeyay Nation, requested a 90-day continuation.
The tribe has not had adequate time to review the plume analysis, she said, adding that “plumes from this project would absolutely affect the Manzanita reservation.” The reservation is located about 6 miles from Boulevard’s town center.
Representatives from the county will attend an upcoming Boulevard community meeting to address resident’s concerns regarding the plume analysis, an official said.
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