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DeSoto Parish adopts solar farm permitting standards after developer briefing
Summary
The Parish adopted Ordinance 3 of 2024 — a multi‑section solar farm permitting standard covering setbacks, height, noise, lighting, fire protection and emergency plans — following debate about scope and assurances from a project developer that construction and design submissions are imminent.
The DeSoto Parish Police Jury moved to adopt a package of ordinance sections establishing permitting standards for solar farms, describing setback, height, noise, lighting, fire protection and emergency‑response requirements.
Jurors debated why the standards were drafted as multiple ordinance sections and whether the changes create undue difficulty for future amendments. A juror said the parish has no general zoning and that the ordinance functions as a targeted, limited zoning framework for solar farm projects. The parish attorney, engineer and administrator reviewed the draft and advised the jury the provisions align with standards used in other parishes.
An unnamed developer who addressed the jury said his project had advanced design work and that the company planned to submit a 30% design set and pull building permits within weeks. The developer said they expect construction to begin within four to eight weeks and stressed plans would explicitly follow the requirements in the adopted ordinance. "We're hoping to start construction on our project in the next ... 4 to 8 weeks," the developer said.
Supporters of the ordinance said the rules are intended to protect public safety and visual buffers between solar facilities and sensitive uses such as schools and places of worship. Opponents questioned the number of ordinance sections and warned that adopting many formal rules makes future change harder. The jury adopted the ordinance package by motion and voice vote.
The ordinance will apply to new solar farms in unincorporated DeSoto Parish; staff and the developer said project plans will be submitted for parish review under the new standards.
