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Delaware County to resume review of utility-scale solar ordinance after months of public debate
Summary
Delaware County commissioners agreed to take the county’s solar ordinance amendments off the table and tentatively scheduled a public hearing for Sept. 15, after a lengthy public-comment period in which farmers, residents and advocates clashed over setbacks and a property-value guarantee.
Delaware County commissioners agreed Monday to take proposed amendments to the county’s utility-scale solar ordinance back up for consideration and tentatively set Sept. 15 as the date to hear the revised ordinance, after extended public comment and a planning commission recommendation.
The planning commission reviewed a revised draft of the ordinance at its Aug. 12 meeting and recommended a set of corrections (largely grammatical and syntactic) by an 8-1 vote, a county staff member told the commissioners. Commissioners said planning and legal staff were continuing work on the draft and that they expected to consider the amendments at a special hearing on Sept. 15.
The matter drew nearly an hour of public comment Monday, with speakers divided over two core issues: minimum setbacks for utility-scale arrays and a “property-value guarantee” provision. Several residents urged the commissioners to keep a 500-foot setback and retain the property-value guarantee; others pushed to reduce setbacks to 250 feet (the state default…
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