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Ware County advances zoning-text and solar ordinance amendments to regular agenda, including battery-storage rules
Summary
The county proposed reducing group-development acreage where public water and sewer exist, adding a definition and conditional-use rules for utility-scale energy storage and removing a 10,000-foot spacing requirement between solar farms; staff said battery setbacks (about 1,000 feet) and battery type would be addressed at application time, and no public speakers opposed the measures.
The Ware County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 8 heard three proposed changes to county land-use rules and referred all three to the regular meeting for formal action.
First, the board opened comment on a proposed amendment to Section 904.1 of the Ware County Zoning Text to reduce the minimum acreage for group development from 10 acres to 5 acres where public water and sewer are available. No public speakers addressed that proposal.
Second, staff proposed adding a definition of "Utility-Scale Energy Storage" to Article III (subsection 302.67) and listing such storage as a conditional use in A-Agriculture Forestry and GI-General Industrial districts (Article VII subsections 707.5 and 706.3). County Manager James Shubert told the commission that the large batteries that store solar-farm output require cooling fans; because fans produce significant noise, the county is considering a roughly 1,000-foot buffer as part of the conditional-use review. Audience member Kelly Thrift asked whether the batteries would be lithium; staff said the specific battery type would be determined at the time an applicant sought conditional-use approval and that the amendment is intended to allow the county to set conditions at application time.
Third, staff presented an amendment to Chapter 78, Article V (ware County Solar Farm Ordinance) to remove a requirement that solar farms be spaced 10,000 feet apart. Shubert said all solar-farm proposals would still be conditional-use applications decided by the commission, and the distance between farms could be considered as part of that application review.
No members of the public spoke in favor or opposition to the text amendments during the hearing. The board added all three items to its regular meeting agenda for further review and potential ordinance action.
