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County pauses solar approvals while staff aligns local permitting with state distributed‑generation rules
Summary
Staff told commissioners that state changes created a distributed‑generation CPCN and new siting standards; planning and zoning have put a temporary internal hold on approvals while staff updates procedures and may request a formal moratorium if local processes cannot be updated quickly.
Lee told commissioners that amendments at the state level created a distributed generation CPCN (DG CPCN) with siting standards that local jurisdictions must review. He said county planning and zoning staff are being educated and asked to update procedures so projects that meet state siting standards can be treated as permitted uses under local code. While staff works through that alignment, they have placed an internal temporary hold on approvals and reviews for pending solar projects.
Lee said the county is working to avoid delays but acknowledged it may be difficult to finalize procedures quickly. “I may come back to you in 2 weeks and say it’s gonna take more than we need here… maybe looking for you all to take some action, like a moratorium,” he said. Commissioners agreed staff should continue to try to get procedures in place and return with recommendations if more formal action is needed.
Next steps: planning and zoning will update procedures and staff will report back; the county may put a moratorium on certain approvals if required to ensure compliance with state standards.
