Bluff reviews renewable-energy rules; commenters urge agricultural protections and small-system exemptions

Planning & Zoning presented a draft renewable-energy ordinance designed to regulate rooftop and ground-mounted solar, small wind and geothermal projects, with the stated goal of allowing reasonable local renewable development while protecting community priorities. The draft was prepared with technical input from SolSmart.

Planning & Zoning commissioners said the ordinance is designed to "plan for what's coming" and to allow residential- and business-scale projects while identifying locations and conditions for larger installations. Commissioners noted charts describing where project sizes would be permitted and said some future edits are likely.

Public commenter Josh Ewing, who works in clean-energy professionally, praised the work and suggested several changes: include language requiring minimal soil disturbance to protect agricultural lands and grazing soils from heavy scraping; exempt very small solar applications (he suggested the recent state-level exemption for systems under 1,200 watts as a reference point) so devices such as attic-vent panels or small wind-anemometer solar panels are not burdened with permitting; and add explicit language that the town does not support industrial-scale solar development on Bears Ears National Monument lands should those federal boundaries change.

Commissioners asked the public to review the charts and provide written feedback by Nov. 7.