Planning commission advances revised solar ordinance to public hearing after 5-4 vote

The LaPorte County Planning Commission voted 5-4 on Aug. 26 to accept revisions to a proposed county solar ordinance and send the changes to a public hearing at the commission's next meeting on Sept. 23. The hearing will be limited to the proposed changes, commissioners said.

Commissioners and staff discussed multiple substantive edits to the draft ordinance. Committee-level work had added industrial zoning as an allowed location for some solar developments and inserted buffer and screening standards. One commissioner cautioned that the draft's new setback language could amount to a de facto ban in practice and warned the county could face lawsuits if the rules unduly prevented lawful solar projects.

The county attorney told the commission he could not promise the county would prevail in litigation over those provisions, adding that courts could overturn or remand portions of the ordinance and that litigation and briefing would entail expense. "If what you pass here is overturned, the court will simply send it back and say try again," the attorney said, cautioning commissioners about legal exposure.

Commissioners also debated a proposed 'property value guarantee' provision that several members said other counties have adopted (Madison County was cited as using a three-mile standard); commissioners questioned who would administer such guarantees and whether they are feasible to implement.

During debate a commissioner raised an allegation of possible conflicts of interest among some board members pushing changes; other commissioners disputed that characterization and no formal ethics finding was made at the meeting.

A motion to accept the updated ordinance was made and seconded. The chair called a roll-call vote with the following recorded: Rita Beatty — Nay; Steve Holofield — Yay; Harold Parker — Yay; Joe Tuholski — Yay; John Carr — Nay; Jimmy Pressell — Nay; Eric Coiten — Yay; John Matwyshyn — Nay; Andy Klupaczek — Yay. The chair declared the motion carried and directed staff to publish hearing notices and post the proposed changes online; hard copies would be available at the Building Commissioner's Office.

The public hearing will be limited to the ordinance changes, the chair said, to avoid repeating prior general debates about solar policy.

Next steps: the commission will hold the public hearing at its Sept. 23 meeting and then may deliberate further or vote on final adoption in a subsequent meeting.