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Planning director briefs commission on new state laws affecting solar siting and accessory dwelling units
Summary
Planning Director Amy Murdock updated the commission on two state bills: House Bill 1466 on accessory dwelling units and Senate Bill 931 on utility-scale solar, describing how amendments preserved limited local siting standards and a 5% cap in priority preservation areas.
Amy Murdock, director of the Queen Anne's County Department of Planning and Zoning, updated the Planning Commission on recent state legislation that will affect local land-use regulation.
Murdock told commissioners that House Bill 1466 requires jurisdictions to permit accessory dwelling units (ADUs) as a by-right use and establishes a waiver of impact fees for very small units; she said most ADUs in the county already are permitted by right and that the fee waiver applies to units under about 900 square feet and therefore is unlikely to change the county's current practice materially.
Murdock and members of the public also discussed Senate Bill 931, the state's utility-scale solar siting statute. Public commenters had urged the commission to resist the bill during the General Assembly; several speakers from the Eastern Shore said they viewed the legislation as an erosion of local zoning authority and warned of expanded solar development.
Murdock said the county had worked with a coalition that included local stakeholders and consultants known at the table as "Mako." She said amendments negotiated during the session produced three outcomes the county views as important: (1) recognition that certain local siting standards can be maintained, (2) an explicit prohibition on utility-scale solar in mapped Tier 1 and Tier 2 growth areas and in zoning districts mapped medium and high residential, and (3) a 5 percent cap on acreage within a jurisdiction's Priority Preservation Area (PPA) that may be used for utility-scale solar before a county may implement local prohibitions.
Murdock said the county's Priority Preservation Area consists of roughly 20,000 acres. (Note: 5 percent of 20,000 acres is approximately 1,000 acres; an arithmetic error in the transcript stated "almost 10,000 acres." This article records the correct calculation.) She added that the county secured language acknowledging the public service commission's commitment to honor local siting standards and that the county may implement zoning prohibitions if a jurisdiction reaches the PPA cap.
Murdock said the amendments are not a complete restoration of local land-use authority, but they provide specific siting protections the county can use when updating its zoning code.
In other updates, Murdock noted staffing anniversaries in the department and said the county intends to align its local cannabis regulations with state minimum standards to avoid litigation; the planning commission already recommended changes for setbacks, and the county commissioners will set a hearing date.
Public commenters during the meeting included Jay Falstad of the Queen Anne's Conservation Association and resident David Sutherland, both of whom spoke at length about the solar bill and urged careful local review of proposed projects.
