Residents urge stronger county solar policy and expanded public notice during board’s public comment period

During the public-comment period, Heather Fanning (Pomona Road) urged the board to strengthen the county’s solar policy and expand notice and buffering requirements for commercial solar projects.

Fanning said the policy the board approved the prior month is “really lacking” because it defines utility-scale projects using an arbitrary size threshold (projects of 5 megawatts/50 acres up to 100 acres) and does not provide guidance for non-residential projects smaller than those thresholds. She said that inconsistency leaves many projects with little or no standards and that 85% of the recently approved solar special exceptions would not fall under the policy’s protections.

Fanning urged several specific changes: broader public-notice requirements (including social media and signs visible from all vantage points), larger vegetative setbacks and buffers for projects adjacent to residences, a prohibition or stricter review of contiguous parcels that allow multiple adjacent projects to functionally create a larger operation, and added protections for historic sites and non-consenting dwellings.

She criticized a recent approval along Pomona and Longfield roads that included a 25-foot existing-vegetation buffer and said that a larger new buffer and greater setbacks would better protect nearby residents and viewsheds.

The remarks were part of the public-comment period. No board action was taken at the meeting in response to the comments; the speaker asked the board to revisit the policy and to consider a moratorium or an ordinance to establish firm standards covering all non-residential solar facilities.