Vanderburgh BZA rejects Bluegrass Creek large-scale solar special-use after hours of testimony

The Vanderburgh County Board of Zoning Appeals voted 3-4 on Aug. 21 to deny SPUDash2025Dash013, a request by Bluegrass Creek Solar LLC and Orion Renewables for a special-use permit to build a large-scale commercial solar facility north of Baseline Road between Old State Road and Interstate 69.

The decision followed more than four hours of testimony from the applicant’s team, county counsel and more than 30 residents and stakeholders who appeared for and against the project. The applicant described the proposal as a roughly 900‑acre participating footprint that would host about 300 acres of photovoltaic panels producing about 100 megawatts of nameplate capacity, paired with a roughly 21‑megawatt battery storage facility. Turner Hunt of Orion Renewable Energy Group said Orion had negotiated multiple agreements with county officials and planned to plant 4,200 trees, fund a $500,000 economic development package, post decommissioning bonds and run pre‑ and post‑construction soil and water testing.

“We will be making the case as to why the Bluegrass Creek solar farm is deserving of a special use permit,” Turner Hunt said in his opening remarks. The applicant’s materials and on‑the‑record presentation stated the project would pay what the developer estimated as about $35 million in property taxes over the life of the project (a figure the applicant described as roughly $1 million per year under the negotiated tax treatment), and that construction would generate local jobs and avoid the long‑term public infrastructure costs associated with new housing or industrial parks.

Opponents — represented in part by attorney Joshua Claiborne and residents of nearby Bennett Pointe condominiums — argued the site is largely prime…