Virginians for Responsible Energy is a Rockbridge County group opposing the wind farm. In a separate action, she filed a lawsuit challenging the approval of the project by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. A hearing is set for August 20.

In a June 2 letter to the county, Apex’s attorney wrote that the May 26 deadline had been clearly extended to at least July 1, 2022 by the General Assembly, which passed legislation last October. intended to help property owners and businesses whose zoning applications have been delayed. by the pandemic.

“As in the case of Rocky Forge, these delays resulted from impacts on professional capacity, workloads and efficiency which can affect various timelines, including site plan approval,” wrote Ann Cosby. of the law firm of Richmond McGuireWoods.

Apex filed an initial sitemap last December and submitted a revised version in March that answered questions posed by county staff. The county filed written comments on the latest plan on Monday and continues to review the proposal.

“Due to the nature of this project, its complexity and the myriad of details required due to the potential impacts on the environment and the community, in-depth reviews of the project plans by all agencies involved are extremely important,” Nicole Pendleton, the county’s community development director, said in a statement Monday.