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Nye County adopts solar siting ordinance after extensive debate over setbacks and decommissioning
Summary
After extended hearings and hundreds of public comments, the county adopted amendments to Title 17 to regulate commercial solar projects, setting siting setbacks, decommissioning-security reviews and a development‑agreement process requiring community consultation and impact mitigation.
The Nye County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 17 approved a revised ordinance establishing rules for commercial solar projects and other land‑use changes in the Pahrump Regional Planning District and elsewhere in the county.
Director of Planning Wagner walked the board through a long list of proposed edits to the draft zoning text: removal of wind-specific pages for separate later work, clarification of Nevada‑licensed engineering requirements, a five‑year review cycle for decommissioning security bonds, and mandatory consultations with the State Historic Preservation Office and federally recognized tribes for cultural‑resource review. He also described new variance procedures requiring applicants to obtain executed agreements with affected landowners and to hold public meetings notifying property owners within a quarter‑mile of proposed variance sites.
The most contentious question was how far commercial solar arrays should be set back from residences and highways inside the Pahrump Regional Planning District (PRPD). Planning staff had recommended a range of setbacks with industry representatives urging shorter buffers while several commissioners and members of the public argued for larger distances. A final motion adopted an amended text that keeps a robust special‑use permit and development‑agreement path, requires a decommissioning plan and financial guarantee, and includes setback provisions (the adopted document keeps a 1‑mile buffer in some provisions while allowing variance procedures with strict public‑notice and hardship standards).
Industry and labor speakers told the board the ordinance provides a controlled path for projects that can bring jobs and tax revenue to Nye County; union representatives stressed local hiring and apprenticeship opportunities. Opponents warned of impacts to groundwater, local landscapes and property values and urged either a stricter ban near residential areas or a larger setback than proposed.
The board voted to adopt the ordinance with the amendments read into the record. The change does not pre‑approve projects; each proposed project will go through a special‑use permit and development‑agreement process in which the county will require transportation plans, decommissioning guarantees, road remediation, public‑safety coordination and, in some cases, additional buffering.
What happens next: applicants will submit special‑use permit packages that include view‑shed and noise analyses, transportation/road repair plans and decommissioning financing; staff will route those applications to town boards, the Nye County Water District governing board and SHPO for required consultations.
