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Morrow County submits third‑round comments to state on Sunstone/Pinegate solar project, pressing weed mitigation and housing plans
Summary
County planning staff approved a letter to the Oregon facility‑siting authority reiterating concerns about cumulative housing impacts, weed mitigation, road‑use and fire‑safety plans, and questioned the reliance on economic benefits and the agricultural mitigation plan as justification for a Goal 3 exception.
County planning staff and commissioners approved and will submit a third set of formal comments to the Oregon Department of Energy / Facility Siting Council on the Sunstone (Pinegate) solar project.
Staff highlighted several recurring concerns: the project’s proposed weed‑mitigation approach and who will be responsible for long‑term monitoring; the absence of a cumulative approach to housing impacts given a construction workforce that could reach several hundred to nearly 1,000 people during peak work; the need for a road‑use agreement and fire‑prevention review by the county emergency manager; and questions about the site‑specific findings that support a Goal 3 exception for agricultural lands.
Staff said FSEC staff had declined the county’s earlier request to fund a local weed‑mitigation position, explaining monitoring enforcement is a state responsibility, but county staff proposed alternative local mechanisms such as requiring developers to fund a local on‑site weed compliance coordinator or to include mitigation funding as a condition of county incentives or tax abatement. Planning staff also suggested requiring periodic housing reporting from the developer during early phases so county staff can pivot if temporary workforce housing stress exceeds projections.
Commissioners approved sending the revised letter to the siting council. Staff said the county would also attend the FSEC hearing and continue outreach. The action does not change any county land‑use approvals but records county concerns for the state review and any subsequent conditions the council may impose.
