Linn County planning board reviews draft rules for large battery storage, limits residential rules

The Linn County Planning and Zoning Board on Wednesday nominated new officers and spent the bulk of its meeting reviewing a draft battery energy storage system (BESS) ordinance intended to govern commercial-scale projects in the county.

Board members agreed to remove tier 1 (small residential) systems from the draft and focus rules on tier 2 and tier 3 commercial installations, discussed minimum setback distances and height limits for equipment, and asked staff to refine technical details, public-notice procedures and permit conditions before the next meeting.

The board’s review followed an earlier county commission action that cleared a related tower issue, leaving BESS as the primary planning item for the month. Members repeatedly emphasized that the draft should be tied to the Linn County comprehensive plan and provide clear, enforceable standards before projects reach the conditional use permit (CUP) stage.

Discussion and key directions

Board members said tier definitions should remain explicit in the draft: tier 1 systems at or below about 80 kilowatts; tier 2 roughly 81–600 kilowatts; and tier 3 systems greater than 600 kilowatts. The board agreed that the county does not need new, separate regulations for most residential tier 1 systems and instructed staff to delete tier 1-specific language from the draft so the ordinance focuses on tier 2 and tier 3 commercial-scale installations.

Members discussed proposed siting and design standards that staff had drafted or borrowed from other counties. Suggested directions included: - Clarify that setback measurements apply to operational equipment (the battery/containers/transformers) rather than simply to a…