SOUTH BEND — Solar farms will have to meet extra restrictions and seek a special use permit — which means they’d first gain approval from the St. Joseph County Council — under a measure that the council approved by a 9-0 vote Tuesday.
But a resolution requesting a one-year moratorium on new solar projects failed by a 4-5 vote.
And yet another measure asking for additional restrictions passed 9-0.
It came in a four-hour meeting where 49 people from the public spoke with a mix of opinions. All of it was spurred by Virginia-based Hexagon Energy’s plans to erect solar farms on 2,300 to 2,500 acres of farmland in the North Liberty area — a project that alarmed several residents when they learned about it only weeks ago.
June 18, 2024: Mixed views pepper long hearing on tighter rules for solar farms in St. Joe County
Residents spoke about the rights of property owners to lease their farmland to Hexagon, about the benefits of solar power, about claims that solar could harm the soil and wildlife, and about what some see as a need to research the impacts even more.
It also came as four companies applied Monday evening to install solar projects in St. Joseph County, according to Abby Wiles, the county’s Area Plan Commission director. She didn’t disclose more about the applicants and noted that staff have yet to review the applications to see if they are truly complete.
Prior to Tuesday’s ordinance change, large-scale solar projects only needed to seek a building permit and to apply for a commercial plan review, which the appropriate county departments would check over for compliance.
Wiles also said that her department’s attorney said, per state statute, that Tuesday’s ordinance changes wouldn’t apply to any projects that had previously applied. In other words, they are bound only to the ordinance and rules at the time that they applied.
Tuesday’s changes retighten regulations that the county council, following the state’s lead, had relaxed in 2020 to encourage such large-scale solar operations on farmland.
But the request for extra changes, on top of that, came in a later non-binding resolution proposed by Republican Dan Schaetzle and Democrats Rafael Morton, Diana Hess, Mark Catanzarite and Bryan Tanner. It simply requests that the Area Plan Commission draft the following restrictions. If the APC does so, they would come back to the council for approval:
∎ A requirement that solar panels be at least 500 feet from a “non-participating” neighbor’s home, up from 250 feet in the original proposal. The panels would also have to be at least 150 feet from that neighbor’s property line.
∎ The panels would also have to be at least 150 feet from a property that is zoned or used for agriculture. This was originally written as only 50 feet, but council member Amy Drake — an advocate for the moratorium and tougher restrictions — moved to amend that to 150 feet, an adjustment that passed 5-4.
∎ The panels would also have to be at least 500 feet from any public or private park or nature preserve.
∎ A fully landscaped buffer would be required along the property line of residential properties, parks and nature preserves.
∎ The solar project manager would have to repair any damage that the solar installation might cause to waterways, ditches and drainage tiles. Solar farms would also be subject to oversight by the county’s drainage board.
South Bend Tribune reporter Joseph Dits can be reached at 574-235-6158 or [email protected].
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: St. Joseph County passes solar farm restrictions but not moratorium
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