Reno County planning commission narrows proposed commercial solar rules, sets 1,200-acre cap and 3-mile buffer

The Reno County Planning Commission on Jan. 16 reopened consideration of Case 2023-10, a proposed Article 26 to regulate commercial solar energy systems, and reached early agreement on several key limits while leaving some enforcement details to the county commission.

Planning staff and commissioners spent most of the meeting reviewing changes staff had placed in the draft regulations, discussing maximum project size, inter-project separation, wildlife connectivity and decommissioning language intended to govern how a facility is removed at end of life.

Mark (planning staff) told the commission the draft seeks to make clear what the county would treat as "unusual and extraordinary expenses" for a project and noted "anything that goes above and beyond the normal conditional use permit fee of $300 will be charged" to an applicant. He also reviewed proposed new language on developer agreements and a definition of "commencing construction."

The commission debated project scale for more than an hour. Harley (commissioner) urged a larger limit and offered technical context, saying, "1 megawatt of power basically requires 8 to 10 acres of ground" and that, based on that math and Census housing counts, a very large project could supply a substantial share of…