A resident urged the Tippecanoe County Area Planning Commission on July 16 to revisit an executive-committee determination report and review for a large special-exception application known as the Rainbow Trout solar project, saying new information and a discovered floodplain merited a second look.

Why it matters: The Rainbow Trout solar proposal, which the speaker said covers roughly 1,700–1,800 acres, is large enough to raise questions about comprehensive-plan consistency and floodplain impacts; process steps taken before the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) can affect the record on which the BZA and the APC executive committee rely.

Catherine Sobieralski, who identified herself in public comment, said the APC’s Unified Zoning Ordinance requires a determination report and review by the APC executive committee before a special-exception case goes to the BZA. She said the executive committee had already issued a determination report in June but that since then new information had emerged — specifically, that floodplain areas exist within the project boundary — and that the project’s application is large (she referenced an approximately 950-page application). Sobieralski asked the APC to consider re-running the determination report at the APC Executive Committee’s August meeting so the committee has more time to review the fuller record before the BZA hears the case.

Sobieralski said Rogers Group’s past mining application required in-depth floodplain analysis during its APC executive review, and she suggested the Rainbow Trout review should follow a similar process. She framed the request as procedural and not intended to delay the developer, saying the additional review could be completed in short order and would improve the record for subsequent hearings.

APC Chair and staff acknowledged the comment; Ryan indicated staff would discuss the issue with the executive committee to determine whether reconsideration is appropriate.

Discussion vs. action: The item was public comment; no formal APC motion was made to reopen the determination report during the meeting. Chair asked staff to review and decide whether to bring the matter to the APC Executive Committee for additional consideration.

What’s next: Staff and the APC executive committee will decide whether to reconvene or update the determination report before the case proceeds to the BZA; no schedule change was recorded at the APC meeting.