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Staff briefs Chino Valley planning panel on APS line-extension meeting, timeline for solar-field regulations
Summary
Town staff told the Planning and Zoning Commission about an upcoming public meeting with APS on a proposed line extension and outlined a timeline for a committee-drafted solar-field ordinance that will reach the commission in November.
Town of Chino Valley planning staff gave an informational briefing to the Planning and Zoning Commission about an upcoming public meeting with Arizona Public Service and the timetable for drafting local regulations for solar fields.
Assistant Director for Development Services Will Dingy said an APS public meeting on an interconnection and line extension will be held Thursday at the Chino Valley Community Center; he urged concerned residents to attend. “Please show up to that meeting. If it concerns you, it concerns everybody,” Dingy said.
Why it matters: the meeting concerns an APS line-extension request that staff said is related to a potential solar project that has not yet been formally submitted to the town. Because the draft regulations governing solar fields are still in development, Dingy told the commission the town cannot take action or accept public testimony on the topic at the commission meeting and that the commission’s questions to staff must be limited.
Timeline and next steps Staff told the commission the town’s General Plan (adopted last November) directed creation of a committee to draft rules for potential solar fields. That committee formed in January and has been meeting monthly; staff said the committee is drafting regulations and expects a public-hearing draft to come to the Planning and Zoning Commission in November. Dingy said the commission can expect a public hearing on the draft at the first Planning Commission meeting in November and that the ordinance would then proceed to Town Council (staff referenced a subsequent Council meeting date in November).
Staff cautioned about open-meeting law limits: commissioners who plan to attend the APS public meeting should notify the town clerk if their attendance would create a quorum, because attending without proper notice could violate open-meeting rules.
Ending Staff emphasized that because no formal solar application is pending before the town and no local regulations yet exist, the Thursday APS meeting is an opportunity for the public to learn about APS’s line-extension proposal and to provide input at that separate forum; the commission will review the town’s draft regulations in November when a formal public hearing will be held.
