A York County resident told the Board of Commissioners on Dec. 23 that a Lancaster County Planning & Zoning Committee had voted to forward a large solar project to county commissioners and urged the board to consider altering its meeting schedule so he could attend the Jan. 7 county meeting in Lincoln.

Willard Peterson, who gave his address as 514 Road 13 and identified himself as a "proud resident of Bradshaw," said he attended a Lancaster County Planning & Zoning meeting that forwarded what he described on the record as a roughly 2,500-acre solar installation "around Allen" to Lancaster County commissioners. Peterson said the committee vote was 6-0 to send the matter to the county commissioners and that earlier public hearings elsewhere had been contentious, with some attendees escorted out.

Peterson said some commissioners there cited concerns that the project would intrude on views and surrounding property. He told York County commissioners he had been told by "confidential informants" that Lancaster County commissioners would likely approve the project "no questions asked," a claim he presented as his account of local reporting and conversations.

"I would like to be there for a historic vote," Peterson said, urging the York County board to consider changing its meeting schedule because Lancaster County's next meeting was set for Jan. 7 in Lincoln at 9 a.m.

The York County board did not take action on the request; the item was heard during the public-comment period and no formal direction or motion was recorded on the solar project or on rescheduling meetings. The board's public comment item ended without further formal follow-up recorded at that meeting.

Why it matters: While the Lancaster County project is outside York County's jurisdiction, nearby large-scale energy developments can affect regional land use and neighbors; public comments like Peterson's alert local officials to constituent concerns and potential inter-county scheduling conflicts that residents say make participation difficult.

What to watch: Lancaster County's meeting on Jan. 7 was mentioned on the record; any subsequent actions by York County to formally study or respond to cross-county developments would appear on future agendas.