A battery offer for your Botetourt County land? Start with the terms.

Keep county revenue and your payments separate

At its November 26, 2024 meeting, the board adopted a revenue-share ordinance for battery storage facilities in lieu of taxation. The discussion also addressed a separate county siting-agreement process. These are public arrangements; neither tells you the price for leasing or selling your property.

Ask the company to put your payments on a separate schedule. What is paid while it investigates the site, when it starts construction and while it operates? If someone describes a project’s benefit to the county, bring the conversation back to the amount and timing in your agreement.

Have your adviser check any wording that could deduct project charges from your payments or make you responsible for new costs. Ask who handles changes to property taxes and other expenses affecting the land. Request confirmation of the current county treatment for this proposal rather than using an old public revenue estimate as your financial forecast.

A statement that the project will pay the county is not a promise to pay you. Identify the company that owes your payments and what happens if the project changes hands.

Reference: Botetourt County: November 26, 2024 minutes, revenue-share adoption

Request a determination for this use and this parcel

Botetourt’s published zoning code makes the zoning administrator’s interpretation important for uses that are not expressly listed. Ask the project team to obtain the current classification for the actual proposal. A battery serving a building, storage associated with solar and a separate commercial facility can raise different questions.

Section 25-47 also allows written conditions to be proffered as part of a rezoning. Those conditions can be specific to the property. Request any applicable decision and accepted conditions, together with the drawing they refer to.

Read those documents alongside the proposed land agreement. If a condition requires a planted area, an entrance or a restriction outside the equipment fence, is that area included in the rights the company wants from you? Who would maintain it, and could you continue using it?

Ask before giving the company authority to file on your behalf. Your adviser should explain what the application authorization covers and whether you would need to approve changed drawings or proposed conditions. An initial property inquiry does not require that authorization.

Reference: Botetourt County zoning: unspecified uses and district interpretation · Botetourt County zoning: conditions proffered in a rezoning

Ask for current road-review evidence

The county’s July 22, 2025 minutes contain a VDOT report listing Gateway Grid Battery Storage. It says second-review comments were sent on March 18, 2025 and a plan resubmittal was awaited. That is a dated review record, not a statement about the project’s status today.

For an offer on your land, ask which road or entrance reviews remain and request the latest response. If plans need revision, what has to change and who is preparing it? A statement that a proposal has been discussed publicly does not answer those questions.

Ask whether the revised entrance would occupy more land, change a driveway you use or require work near an existing drain. Compare the latest drawing with the one attached to your agreement.

A public road-plan review and permission to cross private land are separate matters. Ask the company to identify every owner whose land the proposed route would cross and which rights it has actually obtained.

Reference: Botetourt County: July 22, 2025 minutes, dated Gateway Grid road-plan review

Show the land you want to keep using

Before comparing prices, mark the areas you need for your own use. Include access to fields, buildings, timber and any shared driveway. Ask the designer to show how you would reach them during construction and after the facility opens.

The battery fence may occupy only part of the requested area. Cable routes, drainage, screening and temporary construction space can extend farther. Ask which areas are rented, which require continuing easements and which should return to your use after work ends.

For example, a temporary staging area beside your driveway could block access during installation. Discuss the duration, an alternative route, responsibility for repairs and the date the area must be cleared. Put the agreed arrangement on the drawing and in the documents.

If the layout moves, ask whether the company needs your consent. Do not leave the boundaries to a future design without understanding how much land the agreement allows it to occupy.

Tie more option time to a clear explanation

If the company asks for an extension, request a short progress report before discussing it. Identify the outstanding county, road and electrical reviews, the latest response and the next action. Have it explain what the extra time is intended to achieve.

Compare that explanation with the payment schedule and the outside end date. Will there be another option payment? What can you do with the property during the extension? Which restrictions end if the company does not proceed?

Road review is only one part of readiness. Ask for the status of electrical studies and any identified upgrade work as well. Nearby lines or a battery proposal elsewhere in Botetourt do not show that your parcel has an accepted connection.

Have your adviser check how the reservation ends, including any recorded rights that need release. A missed target should not leave you guessing whether the land is still committed.

Ask Sunland about your property

Use the inquiry form to tell us how to reach you and where the property is located. Acreage and the parcel number are optional if you do not have them available.

Mention an offer, existing land agreement or deadline if one affects your decision. Tell us what parts of the land you want to keep using and whether access is shared.

We can start with those owner questions. Evaluating a possible deal requires further review of the parcel, connection, approvals and terms; sending the form does not grant entry or commit your land.