Planning commission debates draft land-use rules for solar projects; commissioners favor case-by-case review and more outreach

The Montezuma County Planning and Zoning Commission spent an extended portion of its meeting reviewing a draft update to the county land use code that would add or clarify rules for solar and other energy projects, including rooftop systems, small-scale ground arrays and larger utility-scale installations.

Commissioners and staff discussed technical, visual and procedural safeguards they want the draft code to address: fire‑access and rooftop clearance standards, screening and view impacts, thresholds to distinguish small, community and utility scales, electric‑utility interconnection constraints, and a recommended pre‑permit public information meeting for large projects.

No formal vote on the draft changes was taken; commissioners asked planning staff to circulate marked-up suggestions, reach out to Mesa County for lessons learned, and schedule a future meeting to consider consolidated edits. Staff said the county’s moratorium window is open through October and the commission wants a recommended text back to the Board of County Commissioners as soon as members finalize their edits.

What was discussed

- Rooftop arrays and fire access: Commissioners said rooftop solar standards should explicitly address firefighter access (clear pathways on roofs) and noted the county’s fire official had flagged that rooftop clearance language should reference fire and structural‑safety standards.

- Size thresholds and categories: Commissioners talked through numerical thresholds as discussion starters: one commissioner described ‘‘small‑scale’’ ground arrays in the neighborhood of 3 acres, a ‘‘community’’ scale greater than 3 acres but less than about 20 acres, and ‘‘utility’’ scale measured in megawatts with an approximate rule of thumb discussed of roughly 1 MW per 10 acres (the commission referenced example projects and said 2 MW could correspond to about 10 acres under recent projects). Participants described those numbers as illustrative, not final limits.

- Zoning and use permissions: Commissioners debated whether utility‑scale projects should be allowed only in industrial zones or allowed by conditional/high‑impact permit across agricultural land. Several commissioners favored keeping utility projects subject to a high‑impact or special‑use permit so siting and mitigation can be considered case by case rather than automatically allowed by right in every industrial or agricultural parcel.

- Infrastructure and interconnection: Staff noted that Empire Electric (the local distribution cooperative) and other utilities will set technical limits on how much distributed generation they will accept and that applicants must confirm interconnection feasibility as part of planning.

- Public outreach: Commissioners supported a formal pre‑permit hearing or public information session at Planning and Zoning to provide early notice to nearby landowners for large projects and prevent parties from learning of major proposals only after land transactions occur.

Next steps: Commissioners asked staff to compile edits, to contact Mesa County planning staff for practical lessons, and to return a consolidated draft with members’ markups for further discussion. The commission emphasized that standards should allow technical review (interconnection, fire safety) and a conditional permitting path for large projects so mitigation can be required on a site‑specific basis.

Why it matters: The county is updating its land‑use rules at a moment when solar technology, interconnection practices and project scale are changing. The commission’s direction will shape where larger solar arrays can be sited within Montezuma County and what mitigation (screening, setbacks, easements, access) will be required before a project can proceed.