Plan Commission recommends removing solar power plants as a permitted use and banning lithium‑ion storage in zoning amendment

The Vermillion County Plan Commission on May 26 recommended that the county commissioners remove "solar power plants" as a permitted use in the Unified Development Ordinance and explicitly prohibit lithium‑ion battery technology for bulk energy storage.

Brad, the staff presenter, told the commission that instead of a temporary moratorium the panel could simply remove the use from the ordinance and retain Article 5 development standards to regulate projects approved before a set cut‑off date. "My proposal was just to strike from the Unified Development Ordinance solar power plants as a permitted use," Brad said, describing the change as "simple and reversible." He added the proposal would preserve standards for projects already approved prior to a stated cut‑off date so those projects would remain governed by existing rules.

Commissioners discussed practical and legal tradeoffs. Several members said the county already has two projects in the pipeline (referred to in the meeting as the Rise and a second project), and they favored seeing those projects built and operated before reauthorizing new large‑scale solar developments. One commissioner proposed limiting total acreage for renewable power facilities to a percentage of county land (a 5% example was discussed); others warned such numeric caps could create legal challenges by producing "winners and losers." The transcript records differing estimates of total county acreage offered during discussion; speakers did not resolve those discrepancies.

The commission also debated public‑safety and technical issues tied to bulk energy storage. Commissioners highlighted concerns about lithium‑ion battery fire risks in agricultural areas and emergency response times, and discussed mitigation options such as increased separation distances, noncombustible buffers, and other containment measures. Brad proposed, and commissioners agreed to include, language prohibiting lithium‑ion technology specifically while leaving other storage technologies or future alternatives possible.

The commission opened a public hearing on the amendment; no members of the public spoke. After deliberation, Ron (a commission member) moved that the commission forward a favorable recommendation to the county commissioners to adopt the text amendment as presented, including the lithium‑ion restriction; Bob Alexander seconded the motion. The commission approved the recommendation, 6–1. The commission’s action is a recommendation only; the county commissioners will have final authority to adopt, modify, or reject the ordinance changes.

The plan commission’s staff indicated Article 2 edits would remove solar power plants as a permitted use and Article 5 edits would add a development standard banning lithium‑ion batteries; the motion referenced those two articles and a narrow related definition change. The staff also noted that projects already approved and in the pipeline would remain subject to the rules in force when they were permitted rather than being retroactively barred.

Next steps: the commission will forward the recommendation and its findings of fact to the Vermillion County commissioners, who must consider and act on the proposed ordinance changes. The commission did not receive written correspondence on the item and recorded no public comments at the hearing.