Residents urge citizen advisory board after Dearborn County solar moratorium; commissioners point to planning commission role

Several residents addressed the Dearborn County Board of Commissioners on March 3 about a recently adopted moratorium on certain development and the path forward for ordinance changes. Bobby Rowan, who said his group had collected about 2,300 petition signatures, told the board he supports the moratorium and urged formation of a citizen advisory board to draft ordinance language and provide organized public input.

"We have had people commenting from California, Maine ... There's really no way to secure it or to move forward in an orderly fashion," Bobby Rowan said, urging that a small, representative advisory board be established rather than relying solely on social media or mass email comments.

Commissioners and planning representatives responded that changes to zoning (Article 19) and other ordinance amendments must originate with the planning commission; the planning commission could create a citizen advisory group without a vote of the commissioners. Commissioners said they would ask the planning director and the planning commission president to consider options and report back at the board's second meeting of each month so the board can monitor progress. Speakers also discussed Indiana's Open Door (sunshine) rules and the requirement that many formally created committees hold noticed public meetings if they include more than one county elected official.

The meeting record shows no formal motion to create an advisory board; commissioners said they were supportive in principle and would follow the planning commission's process for any formal recommendation. The board will continue to monitor planning commission activity and may take further action if progress is not made.