Shenango board adopts 12‑month solar moratorium after large public hearing on floodplain siting

The Town of Shenango board voted Jan. 7, 2026, to adopt a temporary moratorium on new large‑scale solar installations while it updates local siting rules and studies potential environmental and tax impacts.

The decision followed a lengthy public hearing that drew dozens of residents. Several speakers representing neighborhoods near the proposed River Road and Cipriani projects urged the board to halt new approvals and to ensure pending projects would not automatically be grandfathered in. "These panels would be on pretty much the entirety of that floodplain," said Karen Allen, who cited concerns about hydrology and flood risk. Jacqueline Phillips Murray, speaking for New Energy Equity, said the company had already gone through an earlier moratorium and asked the board for clarity on why the new pause would apply to previously submitted applications.

Board members said the moratorium will allow planners to fill gaps in the town’s 2023 solar law and tailor rules to local geology and flooding vulnerabilities. "We’ve learned a lot since the last law was written," said a board member (speaker 2), adding the pause was intended to permit careful review, not a permanent ban. The adopted resolution places a temporary hold on new permitting while staff and a future advisory committee review siting, hydrology and tax treatment.

The vote to adopt the moratorium was recorded by roll call with all present members voting in favor; one member was absent. The board did not answer every procedural question raised during the hearing about whether specific pending applications would be exempt; several residents asked for explicit assurances that ongoing projects would be reviewed under the revised local rules rather than automatically grandfathered.

Next steps outlined by the board include forming an advisory committee to help review the town’s solar siting rules and considering targeted hydrological studies and tax‑assessment guidance. The board indicated it expects to use the moratorium period to prepare amendments to the town code and to solicit input from residents and technical consultants.