Shepherd Solar proposal still faces unresolved road, traffic and safety requirements

Shepherd Solar LLC’s proposed facility near Matheson still faces unresolved traffic, road, emergency-response and final-plan requirements before construction can begin, according to county records. No final approval or denial is documented in the available Aug. 25–26 records.

The project would include a 199-megawatt photovoltaic facility and a 100-megawatt battery energy storage system on about 1,990 acres. Preliminary civil drawings use separate 309-megawatt direct-current and 231-megawatt alternating-current figures for the solar array, but the records do not establish a final approved capacity or acreage. The county staff report says required traffic, road, emergency-response and final-plan work must be completed before construction.

The Planning Commission hearing was scheduled for Sept. 1, followed by a Board of County Commissioners hearing scheduled for Sept. 9. The available records do not establish whether either hearing was continued or what action, if any, was taken. The staff report’s conditions are recommendations, not a record of action by either body.

Traffic review remains incomplete. A county engineering consultant said the application did not include a Level 2 turn-lane evaluation or Level 3 traffic-impact study. Additional analysis could be addressed through Colorado Department of Transportation review and access permitting, the second-referral materials say.

The county also has not finalized the project’s haul routes or Road Use Agreement. Preliminary routes primarily use County Roads 169 and 149, with other county roads listed as possible alternatives. Public Works said hauling could affect about 30 miles of county roads and that the routes must be confirmed and evaluated before an agreement is signed.

Public Works is requesting reconstruction of County Road 54 to a Type 1 gravel local-road standard. One document describes the segment as about three miles, while another describes about 3.5 miles between County Roads 149 and 169. The work is intended to provide a secondary emergency route and improve travel options for residents, project workers and the surrounding community and school district, according to a Public Works memorandum.

The records provide no cost estimate, county appropriation, state grant or other funding source for the reconstruction. They say the applicant would be responsible for project-related road improvements and repairs, with a bond or irrevocable letter of credit to be negotiated under county requirements. The amount and final terms are not documented. The applicant has committed to preconstruction and postconstruction road-condition surveys and to repairing project-related damage, but the records do not show that the surveys were completed or that a Road Use Agreement was signed.

Emergency-response requirements include 20-foot all-weather access roads, Knox access equipment at project gates and a 30,000-gallon cistern available to the Big Sandy Fire Protection District. Final battery-technology and safety information is expected in a Hazard Mitigation Analysis and Emergency Response Plan, but the final plan was not among the available records. Final site and electrical plans, as well as additional civil details such as culvert and riprap designs, also remain to be submitted before construction permits can be completed.

Public comments and community-meeting records document concerns about property values, equipment noise, wildlife, rural views, farmland, drainage, water, fire safety and decommissioning. The staff report said two public comments had been received by Aug. 25, including one opposition comment, while reporting that no referral agency had an outstanding objection. Those comments are public input, not decisions by the county’s governing bodies.