Queen Anne's County planning panel backs ordinance updating solar rules, adds preservation fee for Class 1 soils

The Queen Anne's County Planning Commission voted to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners approve county-sponsored text amendment 25-10, the Renewable Energy Certainty Act ordinance, which revises local solar regulations to conform with state law and adds a county-level compensatory preservation contribution for projects sited on Class 1 soils.

The amendment, drafted to align county code with Senate Bill 9 31 (SB 931) effective July 1, adds standards for community solar energy generating systems and energy storage devices, removes older utility-scale solar provisions, clarifies zoning districts where solar is permitted, and establishes a fund to offset conversion of high-quality agricultural soils. "It's the most destructive bill in Maryland's history, as it relates to farmland," said Jay Falstad, Queen Anne's Conservation Association, during public comment, but he urged a favorable recommendation because of the compensatory element that protects Class 1 soils.

Why it matters: the change implements state requirements while creating a local mechanism the county says will direct money from certain solar proposals on Class 1 soils into agricultural preservation. Supporters—including farmers and land-conservation groups—urged the commission to endorse the ordinance and to strengthen tracking and owner-notification requirements so the county can enforce landscaping, decommissioning and emergency-contact rules over a project's lifespan.

Planning staff said the state legislation leaves limited local flexibility, and much of the county draft mirrors statutory text. "We are required to update our solar regulations in order to be consistent with the state regulations," planning staff member Stephanie Jones said. County planning director Amy Morta and staff emphasized that many performance standards in the draft derive from the state law but that the county added a compensatory preservation fund specific to Queen Anne's County for solar sited on Class 1 soils.

Under the recommended language the county would calculate the compensatory preservation contribution at 50% of the previous year's Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) fair-market value for farms on Class 1 soils; staff said the 2024 MALPF fair-market value figure used for illustration was $11,544 per acre. The commission's motion asked that the contribution be based on the project's reported project area and that the suburban industrial business/employment district be explicitly added to the list of zones where solar is permitted.

Speakers at the meeting urged additional steps: Carol Bean of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy recommended a higher mitigation fee or a mechanism to re-trigger a fee when project ownership changes, and Scott McGlashan, co-owner of Parson Green Farm and a member of the county MALPF board, said the ordinance is a useful start even though he and others opposed SB 931 in Annapolis. Farmer Matt Nielsen and Betsy Leager described local economic and generational concerns about losing farmland to long-term solar leases.

County staff and planning counsel said the draft should retain or restore a requirement already used in conditional-use approvals that applicants report likely future owners and provide a process to identify new owners to the county. Rob Gunter of planning and zoning noted existing permitting conditions used in prior approvals: "Applicant must notify planning and zoning when ownership of the solar array changes and the signage containing emergency contact information must be kept current." Staff told the commission that decommissioning plans are required and must include bonding and periodic securitization reviews.

After public comment and staff discussion, the commission moved and approved a recommendation in favor of the text amendment with findings of consistency with state law and the county comprehensive plan and with requested additions including change-of-ownership language, the SIBE zoning addition, the project-area basis for the compensatory contribution, and the 50% MALPF-based calculation. The commission recorded the motion and a second and the chair announced, "The ayes have it." The meeting record does not list individual roll-call votes.

The planning commission's recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration and possible adoption; the county's staff noted that elements of the local ordinance could face legal challenge because the state legislation narrowly constrains local authority.