Owensboro commission adopts zoning text amendment on solar farms

The Owensboro Board of Commissioners on March 4 approved Ordinance 2-2025 on second reading, adopting text amendments to Appendix F, Article 8 of the Owensboro Metropolitan Zoning Ordinance to address solar farm regulations across Owensboro, Whitesville and Davis County.

City Manager (name not specified) described the measure as "second reading of a text amendment to the zoning ordinance relating to solar farms" and said the change was primarily driven by county zoning and intended to create consistent regulations across the community while having "limited applicability in the city of Owensboro."

The ordinance was read into the record by City Clerk Beth Davis and passed on roll call. Commissioner Jeff Sanford, Mayor Tom Watson, Commissioner Curtis Maglinger and Mayor Pro Tem Bob Glenn voted "yes." Commissioner Sharon Nee Smith was recorded as unavailable earlier in the meeting.

Supporters framed the change as a harmonization of rules with neighboring jurisdictions rather than a city-driven expansion of solar development. There was no extended public debate during the second-reading vote; the city manager invited questions but none were raised before the roll call.

The commission's action updates the municipal zoning text to match county-level revisions and ensures consistent permitting language regionwide. The ordinance was approved on second reading and will take the next procedural steps for codification under the city charter.

Votes at the second-reading roll call were recorded in the meeting minutes and read aloud by the clerk; no amendments to the ordinance were proposed at the time of final approval.