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Gila Bend council hears split views on solar field overlay zone; former manager urges 15% cap
Summary
Council discussion and public comment focused on a draft Solar Field Overlay Zone: planner outlined setbacks, minimum project sizes and accessory battery limits; industry speaker urged flexibility while a former town manager urged a 15% municipal cap on utility-scale solar.
Sandra Hoffman, the Town of Gila Bend community planner, presented a draft Solar Field Overlay Zone (SFOZ) as part of the town's zoning ordinance update and outlined requirements the draft would impose on utility-scale solar projects. Hoffman described application procedures similar to a rezoning, a 100-acre minimum project size (with 40 acres allowed if contiguous to an existing SFOZ), a cap allowing battery energy storage as an accessory use up to 20% of a project's area, and proposed separation requirements — 2,500 feet from residential districts and 3,000 feet from schools, churches and parks, and airport property.
“There are suggested separation requirements,” Hoffman said while showing a map of potential overlay areas. She explained the draft also ties siting to existing transmission corridors and proximity to high-voltage substations to help ensure feasible interconnection.
Public commenters offered contrasting views. Autumn Johnson, representing the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association, urged the council not to adopt a hard percentage cap and recommended keeping flexibility through project-by-project review and administrative waiver processes. “I would encourage you not to kind of eliminate that on the front end,” Johnson said, adding the industry supports measures that protect public safety while allowing responsible development and that she would submit written comments and relevant county studies.
By contrast, Fredrick Buss, who served as Gila Bend town manager from 2008 to 2014 and said he co-authored the town's original SFOZ, submitted a written letter urging the council to restrict SFOZ and utility-scale solar to no more than 15% of the town's municipal area. Buss wrote that roughly 6,500 acres are already targeted in the interconnection queue and characterized utility-scale solar as producing “minimal long-term revenues” for the town while locking land away for decades, potentially limiting higher-value economic development.
Vice-Mayor Chris Riggs and other councilmembers discussed whether a percentage cap or a proximity-based approach better serves the town. Town Attorney Allen Quist noted that, regardless of approach, SFOZ applications would still come before council for approval and cautioned that proximity-based maps could change as infrastructure develops.
No zoning ordinance amendments were adopted at the meeting. The council recessed into an executive session for legal review of zoning language related to solar development and reconvened later without taking public action. The council asked staff to solicit further public comment and written recommendations before returning the draft ordinance for future consideration.
