Tippecanoe committee advances draft solar ordinance after hours of expert and public testimony

The Ordinance & Bylaw Committee of the Area Plan Commission of Tippecanoe County advanced a set of proposed amendments to the county’s Unified Zoning Ordinance (UZO) on March 4 after more than two hours of testimony from landowners, researchers, students and county staff.

Ryan O'Gara, Area Plan Commission staff, said the draft organizes recommendations from a solar study committee into sections that will move to ordinance text for consideration at the APC's April meeting. "The goal was to take the choices the Ordinance Committee voted on, put them into proper ordinance format, and present them at the April 15th Area Plan Commission meeting," he said.

The public record included a wide range of technical and value-based testimony. Dr. Jane Frankenberger, a Purdue University professor of agricultural engineering and a member of the solar study committee, described the committee’s intent to reach compromise and cautioned against alternatives introduced late in the process. She said a proposed 1,320-foot setback “exceeds setbacks required for junkyards, adult entertainment facilities, mining, motor vehicle raising, and shooting ranges with no evidence to justify it,” and urged the committee to favor evidence-based options.

Supporters of utility-scale solar emphasized economic and environmental benefits. Anna Sorg, representing several Purdue student sustainability groups, disputed common solar myths about glare and heat, and argued the technology can be deployed without the impacts alleged by some opponents. Speakers with agricultural expertise and developers described agrivoltaic practices that can support soil health and suggested solar can provide steady lease income that helps farm finances.

Several residents and farmland advocates urged stricter protections. Del Craig, speaking for the Tippecanoe County Farm Bureau in earlier correspondence, warned that an alternative allowing up to 10% of crop and pastureland could amount to roughly 20,000 acres countywide and called for concentrating development outside prime agricultural zones. County Commissioner David Byers said AA-zoned prime farmland should be off limits to ensure long-term productive land remains available.

On ordinance choices, the committee voted to advance a package of draft alternatives for APC drafting: a new 'Alternative 5' limiting large-scale solar to special exception uses in OR, A, and AW zones and capping total countywide development at 6,000 acres; staggered property-line and occupied-structure setbacks with waivers by written consent for nonparticipating owners; a 500-foot minimum placement for inverters from nonparticipating occupied structures as a default (unless waived); a noise standard of 45 dBA measured at nonparticipating property lines (the vote on noise was 4–1); a 0.5 footcandle glare limit at nonparticipating property lines and matching lighting limits; a tiered liability insurance and indemnity requirement for grid-connected facilities; a requirement that project areas be contiguous; a pre-construction planting requirement for tilled sites; and an updated fee approach to allow project-specific application fees and third-party consultant costs to be charged to applicants.

Tom Murtaugh, who made most of the committee motions to advance the drafts, said the package seeks a balance between protecting nearby property owners and allowing willing landowners and developers to proceed under clear rules. "We want to provide protections while still allowing appropriate development," he said following unanimous committee approval to forward consensus items for ordinance drafting.

The committee did not finalize every detail. Several items remain framed as alternatives and will return in ordinance text for further APC discussion, including precise definitions of "participating" versus "nonparticipating" owners, the mechanics for waiver documentation, and the decommissioning section, which was deferred to the April meeting.

Next steps: staff will translate the committee-selected alternatives into proposed ordinance language for consideration by the full Area Plan Commission on April 15; additional adjustments are possible before any formal recommendation to the county commissioners.

The meeting adjourned at 7:04 p.m.