County schedules Commerce Street solar hearing; officials discuss allowing temporary met towers

County planning staff told the committee Sept. 2 that a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing for a proposed Commerce Street solar project is scheduled for Sept. 23 and asked committee members to attend the hearing in person. Julie Bellerrey, speaking for the planning department, said the Commerce Street hearing will include a text amendment to treat temporary meteorological towers as a permitted use, and that staff will mail hearing notices to nearby properties in advance. A county staff member said the committee can raise permitting conditions at the ZBA hearing and asked members to attend to hear testimony and ask questions. On the question of decommissioning financial assurance for temporary towers, a staff speaker observed that existing annual decommissioning checks can help offset costs and said, “if you do the $5,000 every year that you're probably doing, and the cost of the steel will more than offset the cost of of taking some damage.” Why it matters: temporary meteorological towers are used to collect wind or site data before larger energy projects proceed; treating them as a permitted use would allow staff to set permitting conditions such as setbacks and decommissioning requirements without a separate ZBA application for each temporary installation. What was not decided: the committee did not adopt a permanent text amendment at this meeting; the matter will be discussed at the upcoming ZBA hearing and during the permit review process. Next steps: staff said the ZBA hearing for Commerce Street is set for Sept. 23; committee members and the public will have the opportunity to ask questions at that hearing.