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Residents urge county moratorium on large solar farms; commissioners cite state preemption but pledge code review

Allegany County Board of County Commissioners · March 12, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

A resident urged Allegany County to impose a temporary moratorium and strengthen local solar ordinances to protect farmland, require decommissioning bonds and clarify permitting; county counsel said a 2019 court case and recent state law limit local siting authority but staff will explore options and participate in upcoming hearings.

A public commenter urged the Allegany County commissioners to adopt a temporary moratorium on large-scale solar projects while the county updates ambiguous zoning language and adds protections such as setback rules, farmland safeguards and decommissioning bonds.

"Counties still shape where projects can go and how they look," Kit Pepper said, arguing that…

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