Butler County sets March 16 hearing on proposed moratorium affecting solar, wind and other developments
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Summary
The Butler County Board on March 2 scheduled a public hearing for March 16 on a proposed development moratorium that would pause permitting for commercial wind farms, commercial solar farms, battery storage, data centers and landfills during a comprehensive plan update; Sandhills Energy will be added to the agenda for that hearing.
The Butler County Board of Supervisors voted March 2 to hold a public hearing on March 16 at 6:00 p.m. and a special meeting immediately afterward to consider a temporary moratorium on several categories of development while the county updates its comprehensive plan.
The Planning Commission, represented at the meeting by Chairman Roger Topil, recommended moratoriums on five project types: commercial wind farm energy systems, commercial solar farm energy systems, battery energy storage systems, data processing centers and landfills. Topil told the board that projects already under physical construction would be excluded from the proposed moratorium.
David Begley, an Omaha attorney who addressed the board before the vote, said residents had expressed opposition at a recent Sandhills Energy open house and argued that utility-scale solar is inefficient and wastes farmland. "Even though Butler County does not yet have zoning, the Board can outright ban wind and solar," Begley said, and he provided the board with a Knox County resolution that bans those technologies.
Public commenter Galen Juranek urged caution and said he had been told by the Natural Resources District that land with high nitrates is best returned to grass; he said his own land sale began after he declined to lease. Chairman Scott Steager told Juranek the county's consultant fee for the comprehensive plan and zoning work is $57,000 and invited residents to attend the March 16 hearing.
Sandhills Energy representative Brian Boerner asked to be added to the March 16 agenda to give a project update; the board agreed to place him on the agenda. Planning Commission and board members noted that the moratorium discussion aims to preserve county review space during the comprehensive plan process rather than to immediately change the rules for projects already under construction.
The board voted unanimously to set the hearing and the special meeting. The public hearing will be at the Butler County Courthouse, David City, on March 16 at 6:00 p.m., with the special meeting to follow.
Next steps: the board will accept public comment at the March 16 hearing and may take further formal action at the immediately following special meeting.