Dearborn County commissioners approve one-year moratorium on commercial solar, related batteries and data-center variances

Dearborn County commissioners voted Feb. 24 to adopt Ordinance 2026-004, a strategic moratorium on processing certain commercial solar energy system applications, battery storage facilities associated with those systems and variance-of-use applications for data centers.

County staff member Andy, summarizing a planning commission public hearing held the night before, told commissioners the planning commission voted to forward a favorable recommendation to implement the moratorium and submitted a certification documenting the vote. "The planning commission did vote to forward a favorable recommendation to implement a moratorium on the processing, all processes related to solar energy system commercial as defined in Article 19, section 19.02 of our zoning ordinance, and to include battery storage facilities associated with SESCs," Andy said.

The ordinance, identified in the meeting as Ordinance 2026-004, will begin in February 2026 and remain in place for a period not to exceed one year, a duration Andy said derives from a state statute enacted last year. Andy said he consulted Garrett Baskin, county attorney in Franklin County, during preparation and relayed Baskin's guidance about the statutory basis for the one-year period.

Commissioners discussed public testimony and written comments received at the planning commission hearing. One commissioner said they had read every email and appreciated the public input; another noted that while not everyone would be happy with the outcome, the board needed to make a decision based on the record.

The presiding commissioner asked Kevin to make a motion to approve the ordinance. A motion was made and seconded; by voice vote the board approved the ordinance, and the presiding commissioner declared, "Motion carries."

Following the vote, commissioners directed staff to report back on implementation and outreach. Nicole was asked to provide updates to the commissioners at the second meeting of each month. Planning staff said there would be no solar items on the March planning commission agenda so legal counsel can be present, and that the moratorium-related matters would be brought back to the planning commission in April. The staff described a two-month outreach plan that will accept suggestions from board members, residents and groups; publish submissions and summarized counts on the planning and zoning website and on Facebook; and convene workshops after April to develop draft ordinance language from the collected ideas.

Planning staff emphasized that the moratorium applies to commercial processes defined under the county zoning ordinance; Andy noted residential rooftop panels would be treated differently. The board adjourned after the procedural updates.

The ordinance text, implementation timeline and the planning commission certification were filed with the commissioners during the meeting. Further details about the scope of exemptions, enforcement mechanisms and the schedule for workshops and draft ordinance language were not specified at the meeting but staff committed to monthly reporting and to posting submissions online.