Concerns over solar power ordinance addressed

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors will wait to take action on an ordinance setting amendments for solar power in its zoning ordinance.
A public hearing on proposed changes took place at the regular Board of Supervisors meeting on Dec. 7. The reason the county was looking to make the change was due to the county having a wind power ordinance in place that laid out requirements a developer would have to meet in order to construct a wind farm, but there was nothing on the books for development of a solar farm.
No written comments were received prior to the public hearing, however, Maggie McQuown, who currently serves on the board of adjustment, did comment on the proposed changes. McQuown said she was unable to attend a meeting regarding the zoning changes, but was told that her comments would be discussed at the meeting, however, that wasn’t the case.
“After the meeting, I found out that my comments were never brought up. Since that meeting, I’ve not received any written communications, or any of the copies of the draft with the revisions. The only way I was able to see the current draft was because I went online and read it from the supervisors meeting packet,” McQuown advised. “Virtually none of my recommended revisions that were supposed to be included in that Oct. 14 meeting are reflected in the draft. I only found one small revision, and it’s not very clear.”
Additionally, McQuown said there was conflicting information about who attended the Oct. 14 meeting when the draft was revised, and what was done. Also, she noted problems in the draft itself.
“There are inconsistencies in the ordinance language, such as the items that appear in the definitions. They are used interchangeably throughout the ordinance, and that could cause confusion. Going forward, any large company that is coming in to build a large solar installation will have a highly-professional legal counsel, and if we have any confusion in our ordinance, it leaves us open and vulnerable,” said McQuown.
As an example, McQuown noted there was a provision for 100-foot setback from a residence for any installation. However, on a smaller farm, that setback may not be sufficient distance to keep the solar farm far enough away from a person’s home.
McQuown felt there were too many questions and inconsistencies, and while she commented all those for proactively wishing to develop a zoning ordinance, she was requesting the supervisors table any action until the proposed zoning ordinance changes could be further reviewed.
Vicky Rossander, who serves on the planning and zoning commission, was also present at the meeting, and shared McQuown’s sentiments that the ordinance should be tabled until it can be further discussed by the planning and zoning commission and the board of adjustment, due to a lack of attendance at the prior meetings.
“At the last meeting of the planning and zoning commission and the board of adjustment, when this ordinance was discussed and voted on, there were only three members of the planning and zoning commission, and two members of the board of adjustment in attendance,” Rossander stated. “Zoning administrator Barry Byers was also unable to attend the meeting, and county engineer Karen Albert had to fill in for him. While she did her best to answer the questions presented, she had not been at attendance at the previous meeting when the ordinance was presented, and so she was not able to fully address our concerns brought up regarding the changes that had been suggested at the first meeting.”
Also, Rossander said it was her understanding that suggested changes would be amended into the document, and they would have a chance to see and approve the changes before the ordinance was brought before the supervisors, and that did not occur.
“I did not see the final draft of the ordinance until today. The final draft you have before you was not shared with the members of the planning and zoning commission. When I compare this copy with the version approved in October, I can see that changes have been made since our last meeting.We were informed that changes would be made, but as I said, we have never seen this last draft to review and approve,” commented Rossander.
Due to the importance of the ordinance for the county, Rossander felt it needed to be well thought out and reviewed before it was approved.
“I am not here in opposition to solar power or solar farms. I simply want them to be constructed correctly and to protect our county. I am also not against the ordinance, it just needs to be done correctly,” Rossander said.
Albert confirmed she attended the meeting due to Byers’ illness, and the meeting when the ordinance was voted upon was recorded so Byers could listen to the comments received the next day, and said the ordinance being presented before the supervisors was loosely based off of the ordinance passed in Sac County. Byers was not able to attend the supervisors meeting in-person due to a prior schedule conflict.
Supervisors Chair Donna Robinson closed the public hearing, and Supervisor Mark Peterson said that due to the lack of members discussed, he was not comfortable going any further with the ordinance until there was another discussion meeting with the board of adjustment and the planning and zoning commission.
Supervisor Mike Olson clarified that the planning and zoning commission did have a quorum with three members, and they had the final vote on the ordinance. Both boards have five-member boards.
Robinson said that because McQuown’s concerns and recommendations were not added to the final ordinance, that was a concern, and she wasn’t comfortable with that.
Supervisor Randy Cooper agreed that the supervisors needed to take a step back based on the comments received.
“We’ve got someone on the planning and zoning commission present who is saying things weren’t clear at their meeting, and with the potential of recommendations not being included in this draft, I don’t feel like we can go forward with this right now,” commented Cooper.
While the county was attempting to be proactive, Robinson said there was not an extreme urgency, and agreed with McQuown’s statement that if a large company came to the county to build a solar farm, they would have a lot of people backing them up that would be able to look for loopholes in the current proposed ordinance.
While in agreement that the county needed to take a bit more time drafting the ordinance, Olson urged the supervisors not to drag their feet.
“If a company comes in and gets the approval of the landowners in this county, they can do whatever they want. There’s no ordinance or policy in place. That almost happened southwest of Red Oak, and if not for one landowner stopping it, we would have a 350-acre solar farm down there now with no guidance, ordinance, or stipulations in place. So if we’re going to table this, we need to get on it and get it done before that happens,” Olson said.
Robinson agreed and said she would contact Barry Byers, and have him work to set up a meeting between the planning and zoning commission and the board of adjustment as soon as possible, preferably with all members present. Also, some of the supervisors may also be present at that future meeting. She also favored having the draft of the ordinance reviewed by legal counsel.