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Zoning committee advances several solar projects, recommends battery ordinance rewrite after state changes
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Summary
The zoning committee deemed multiple solar conditional-use applications complete and forwarded them toward public hearings, approved decommissioning and screening plans for other projects, and instructed staff to rewrite the county's battery ordinance after recent state changes.
Scott (speaker 4) briefed the board on zoning committee action on solar and related land-use matters. He said a 4.32-megawatt solar facility on 47 acres near Clifton and a 1.3-megawatt facility on 10 acres were deemed complete and will be forwarded to the county zoning board of appeals (CBA) for public hearings. A separate 2.85-megawatt application north of Watsika was judged incomplete and deferred.
The committee approved a Commerce Street Solar decommissioning and landscape-management plan and will forward a building-permit application to the full county board. It also approved a vegetation-management and screening plan for the Lewis Creek project in Buckley. Scott said the committee recommended opposing a temporary moratorium on data-center/warehouse projects and will send that recommendation to the full board.
Scott told the board that the state has tightened requirements and that the county must completely redo its battery storage ordinance with changes to wind and solar ordinances limited to a few adjustments; staff (Andy) will coordinate the rewrite with the committee and aim for an updated ordinance by June (with a 120-day leeway).
Why it matters: multiple utility-scale and site-specific solar proposals are moving toward public hearings and eventual board consideration, and the county must update local rules to meet tightened state requirements on battery storage, which will shape future development and permitting.
Next steps: the committee will forward completed applications to public hearing and staff will draft ordinance updates for committee review ahead of the stated deadline.
