Oops!! We need to fix our recently created
Unified Development Ordinance (UDO)
What are the chances that one of our board members who served on the UDO development board; and is a current board member of the JC Plan Commission; who also just happens to have some prime farmland exactly where where Industrial Solar Developers are requesting conditional use permits. Imagine that!
The UDO Making Process
Excerpt from the JC Plan Commission Minutes from June 2, 2021
Current Business:
• Comprehensive Plan: The Commissioners adopted the Comprehensive Plan.
• Procedure for adopting & changing fees & new ordinances: The board had paperwork from Pat Magrath explaining in detail the procedures.
In short, Pat explained: typically changes or additions go through the Plan Commission; the Plan Commission comes up with a proposal of what the ordinance will look like and recommends that to the Commissioners; the Plan Commission must have a public hearing on it before it is recommended to the Commissioners; the Commissioners then have their own public hearing; they vote on it within 90 days.
Warren Auxier mentioned we don’t have any type of fee for a solar farm and in order to add that, we would have to go through the same procedure Pat Magrath just mentioned above; Pat agreed.
Warren Auxier talked about all the solar information they have collected and it is hard to figure out how to put it all together to create an ordinance. Warren Auxier suggested hiring a professional to do this. David Bramer is going to check, but he believes there is funds from the Comprehensive Plan budget that would help cover this cost.
David Ferguson wants to make sure the setbacks for solar, both residential and commercial, don’t block line of site, etc for adjacent property owners. He believes the setbacks should probably be set in place soon.
Currently, a commercial solar development/farm has to go through the BZA with a conditional use permit. If the BZA approves the application, it can put conditions on it protecting the residents as long as the conditions are not arbitrary. There is concern on how quickly we need to create a solar ordinance.
Going from memory, Lynette Anderson said there are a couple of solar companies wanting to proceed by the fall of this year. We don’t have a definition for a solar farm. The conditional use number that would be used for a solar farm is Number 486, Major Utilities, Stations & Plants. Gene Riedel asked if it is up to us to define what a solar farm is? Warren Auxier referred to the Indiana State Statute: Solar Energy Systems under I.e. 36-7-2-8 means either of the following: (1) any solar collector or other solar energy device whose primary purpose is to provide for the collection, storage and distribution of solar energy for space heating or cooling, or for water heating; or (2) any structural design feature of a building, whose primary purpose is to provide for the collection, storage, and distribution of energy for space heating or cooling, or for water heating. The statute continues: A unit (Jefferson County or Plan Commission) may not adopt any ordinance which has the effect of prohibiting or of unreasonably restricting the use of solar energy systems other than for the preservation or protection of the public health and safety. This section does not apply to ordinance which impose reasonable restrictions on solar energy systems.
However, it is the policy of this state to promote and encourage the use of solar energy systems and to remove obstacles to their use. Reasonable restrictions on solar energy systems are those restrictions which (1) do not significantly increase the cost of the system or significantly decrease its efficiency; or (2) allow for an alternative system to comparable cost an efficiency. Gene Riedel made a point if a resident has two or three acres behind his house and installs solar panels on that acreage, does he fall in the same category as someone who installs solar panels on 2,000 acres? Warren Auxier said that is yet to be determined.
It has been difficult to find answers from the state level on many questions/concerns dealing with solar energy. Britt Copeland had a resource from IU on a definition: A large scale solar energy system is ten (10) acres or greater with the principle of land use for the parcels on which it is located; a community scale solar is less than ten (10) acres and has different definitions whether for building integrated or if it’s grid tied (feeding the grid), ground mounted, off grid, passive, and so on. Britt Copeland also said Purdue is doing research on wind and solar energy; that research won’t be available until September.
David Bramer will find out what funds are available through the Comp Plan budget in order to hire a professional to write a solar ordinance as well as making improvements on our current zoning ordinances instead of creating new ordinances for zoning.
