Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Farmland Preservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves farmland leases and updates farmland preservation plan; advisory committee recommends no solar farms in preserved areas
Summary
Racine County supervisors accepted competitive bids to lease five county-owned parcels for farming through 2028 and approved a required 10-year farmland preservation plan update that includes a recommendation to prohibit solar farms in farmland preservation zoning.
The Racine County Board approved leases for five county-owned parcels to be used for farming from 2025 through 2028 and adopted the county's 10-year farmland preservation plan update.
Supervisor Don Trotter announced the accepted bids and named successful bidders including Robert Grove (a former county board member), Frost Farms and the Waterford Union High School District. The leases cover a four-year term (2025–2028) and were awarded after competitive bidding.
Planning staff presented the farmland preservation plan update. Chad Sampson, who led the presentation, said the state requires counties to update a farmland preservation plan every 10 years and noted the county's first plan was developed in 1982 and updated in 2012–2013. Sampson described outreach to municipalities in mid-2023 and said an advisory committee recommended retaining longstanding preservation areas while addressing new issues, notably solar development. "Solar farms has now became a bigger a bigger issue in in our county," Sampson said, and advisory-committee members from Waterford and Burlington recommended that solar farms not be allowed in farmland preservation areas; the county will incorporate that recommendation into a forthcoming ordinance.
The board called the question on Resolutions 2024-70 (leasing five parcels) and 2024-71 (adoption of the farmland preservation plan) and approved both measures.
What was decided and next steps Resolutions to accept farming bids and to adopt the farmland preservation plan were carried by voice vote. County staff said the ordinance language reflecting the advisory committee's guidance on solar farms "will now go into our ordinance," and planning staff and the regional planning commission are expected to finalize statutory language for committee review.
Clarifying details The farmland preservation plan update involved outreach to municipalities in summer 2023, used an advisory committee of roughly 12 members, and included assistance from the regional planning commission. The committee explicitly recommended a prohibition on solar farms within farmland preservation zoning areas; the board recorded that recommendation and instructed staff to incorporate it into the county ordinance.
