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Bluff planning commission begins drafting renewable-energy ordinance; scope to include solar and possibly other technologies
Summary
The commission agreed to draft a renewable-energy ordinance and discuss whether to limit it to solar or include broader renewables; members plan research and a small drafting team to produce a proposal for future meetings.
The Town of Bluff Planning and Zoning Commission on April 17 agreed to start drafting an ordinance to guide siting and standards for renewable-energy projects, with commissioners debating whether to limit the code to solar or write broader language covering multiple technologies.
Amanda Podmore introduced the item as a tasking for the commission to recommend where and how renewable installations should be sited. She said the commission had a solar template to start from and asked whether the group wanted to “limit that to solar, or do we expand it to generally renewables?”
Commissioners noted the town’s local conditions. One commissioner observed Bluff’s limited wind and thermal potential but said an ordinance could be written broadly to include technologies that are practicable. Several commissioners supported starting with a solar-focused draft while leaving the ordinance open to other technologies. The commission asked Lee (last name not provided) and Amanda to meet and combine research on “broader renewable energy ordinances” with the draft solar template and to return a proposed draft to the commission.
Why it matters: zoning and ordinance language determine where larger installations — for example, utility-scale solar fields or arrays — can be sited, whether overlays are needed, and what standards (setbacks, screening, decommissioning) would apply. Commissioners discussed whether zoning changes or an overlay district should accompany the ordinance; staff said those mapping decisions would follow the policy choices in the ordinance.
Next steps: the commission assigned research tasks and scheduled a drafting session. Lee and Amanda will meet to combine a solar draft and broader renewable-energy research; the commission will review the draft at a future meeting and then determine whether to map specific zones or adopt an overlay.
Ending: Commissioners asked for a draft ordinance to be ready for review; the commission did not set a formal deadline but planned to meet in the coming week to begin the text.
