A revised ordinance setting additional standards for solar farms and facilities was approved Wednesday by the Montgomery County Plan Commission.
The revisions will now head to the county commissioners for final approval.
The meeting conducted on Thanksgiving eve was filled with citizens. Several spoke out against allowing commercial solar farms, citing potential devaluation of homes near the project, potential hazardous waste contamination in the water aquifer, inadequate fire protection, equipment and road access.
After the public hearing concluded, plan commission members reviewed the revisions provided by County Attorney Dan Taylor. He had been asked by county officials to draft revisions that address previously presented citizen concerns.
“The revisions you have before you have the changes requested by the county commissioners,” Taylor said. “If you favorably recommend the revision, then commissioners should act on it in two weeks at their first meeting in December.”
He also reminded the plan commission that state law dictates the county must allow solar farms, however, the county can establish an ordinance with guidelines and requirements for corporate solar facilities.
Commercial solar energy systems will only be allowed in an agricultural overlay district and industrial zoning districts. If a rezone application is made for a commercial solar farm, the petitioner must provide the following information: a detailed design of the project, road plan, decommissioning plan, fire control plan, hazardous materials handling plan, drainage plan and lighting plan, heat island effect study, traffic circulation plan and noxious weed and invasive species control plan.
The plan includes setbacks from property lines, center of roads and distance from property lines if adjoining property that contains a residence.
With the revisions, cost of decommissioning a solar project will fall to the solar farm owner, but Taylor said the landowner could also have some liability in the event a solar farm causes harm to neighbors.
Residential and commercial solar projects built for the purpose of providing energy to the owner are exempt from the ordinance revisions.
After the meeting, Taylor said, “I think what we saw is that this is how government should work. The people spoke and their voices were heard.”\
