CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) -- A family-owned farm in southern Chesapeake is set to get a boost by adding a solar energy facility. Chesapeake City Council in a 7-2 vote approved a conditional use permit for the solar farm on Long Ridge Road on Tuesday night. Council members Jeff Bunn and Debbie Ritter voted no. The project was unanimously approved by the city's planning commission. The owners of the farm, Christopher and Glenn Scott Weatherley, plan to build the 5-megawatt solar facility on about 41 acres, and farm grain on the rest of the 122-acre parcel. "I still wanna farm ... this would give me some security," said Glenn Scott Weatherley, who said he's been working the farm full-time since 1986. "I'm pushing 60 years old this December. I'm looking for the easy life for a change." Weatherley says he plans to put cows around the solar farm, as well as bee hives. "It would be a great place for pollinators." The Weatherleys are working with Florida-based ESA Solar Energy on the project. "They've farmed it, they've enjoyed it and they've worked hard to keep it in their family," said Cara Romaine with ESA. "For them, this project represents a secure future providing stable revenue in a volatile agricultural market." The project will hook up to the grid via a nearby Dominion-owned power pole on Long Ridge Road and won't require a new substation, per city planning documents. Romaine says the project will create power for about 1,000 homes, through Dominion's Shared Solar Program. As part of the proffers, the city will also receive an annual contribution of $8,000 to Chesapeake's Open Space and Agriculture Perseveration Program (OSAP). Speakers, including neighbors of the farm, said they were in support of the project, and called it a "win-win." "We're farmers and our land is next to where they want to put the project. So we know first-hand how important it is for our community ... we think it's great that this project could help the Weatherleys keep their land and farm it, while also giving them a new way to earn some money," said speaker Dana Todd.