Rochelle, planning staff for Tooele County, presented a proposed energy development overlay zone to the County Council on Sept. 2 and said the county would not identify candidate parcels until it receives a pending state audit in October. The overlay would not change underlying zoning but would signal to the state that a parcel was available for certain energy projects.

Rochelle described allowable uses in the overlay as including solar farms, battery energy storage systems, small modular reactors, biomass, waste-to-energy, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen production and storage, nuclear research or testing facilities, wind energy systems, and geothermal facilities. The proposal would prohibit oil, gas and coal extraction and fossil-fuel refining or coal-fired generation.

Nut graf: The overlay is intended to give the county a mechanism to work collaboratively with the state's energy office and to require conditional-use review so planning commissioners and neighbors can be notified and mitigation conditions applied if a project is proposed.

Rochelle said the overlay makes energy uses conditional so they “go before the planning commission” and allow neighbors notice and opportunities to seek mitigation. She also noted the overlay would not alter the parcel's existing rights under its underlying zoning.

Discussion vs. decision: The council discussed timing and procedure; Rochelle said the state audit is expected in October and that the overlay would go to the planning commission before any final council action. No rezoning or parcel designation occurred at the Sept. 2 meeting.

Ending: Council members indicated support to proceed to planning commission review; Rochelle confirmed that is the next step.