Hugo planning commission approves Cedar Creek Energy solar farm at 7776 157th Street

The Hugo Planning Commission voted to approve a site plan and interim use permit for Cedar Creek Energy's proposed solar farm at 7776 157th Street after staff said the project met the city's revised solar ordinance criteria and commissioners discussed screening and wetland avoidance.

Staff planner Max told the commission the parcel is about 38.25 acres and the applicant proposes a solar array of roughly 4.6 acres in the northwest corner of the site to avoid wetlands and steep slopes. Max said the city's Solar Energy Systems Ordinance (adopted 2016 and revised following moratoria in 2023'024) raised setbacks and added criteria intended to minimize visual impacts; the project meets zoning and most site-plan performance criteria but will require a revised landscape plan to show trees planted at the ordinance-required 6-foot height at installation rather than the 4-foot trees currently shown.

The commission's questions focused on siting and screening. One commissioner asked why the array was placed far from a nearby house; staff and planner Rachel answered that earlier layouts were moved to avoid wetland impacts and steep slopes and to reduce the need for tree removal. Staff noted there are about 31 acres of wetlands on the property and that driveway impacts to wetlands received TEP approval. Max said the array would be fenced with a 7-foot post-and-wire fence, that panels would be mounted on single-axis trackers at about 12 feet tall (below the 15-foot maximum), and that the city will require remote metering and a decommissioning plan backed by a cash escrow.

Applicant representative Alex Gastro of Cedar Creek Energy said additional evergreen screening on the southwest side would be feasible if the commission wanted that as a condition. Gastro described anti-reflective coatings on panels and stated, "Glare should not be an issue with this system, and it should most definitely not be an issue with where it's sited with how far away it is from the road and the trees that are planted." He also said tracking motors are small and that vegetation management would be handled by a partner, Natural Resource Services, with initial establishment followed by periodic mowing or grazing.

During public comment property owner John Watts told the commission the new ordinance's acreage language narrowed how arrays can be laid out on irregular fields and left some tillable acreage too small to farm efficiently. Watts said the change may reduce the field's economic usefulness and asked whether the applicant and staff could revisit layout options; staff replied that the commission must act on the application before it and that any significant redesign would require the applicant to withdraw and resubmit.

After discussion the commission member who moved approval said the ordinance and setbacks had already been vetted by the community and ordinance committee; another commissioner seconded. A roll-call vote followed and the motion passed. Staff will require the applicant to submit the revised landscape plan showing 6-foot planting heights, a revised vegetation establishment and maintenance plan (including a second seed mix to match varying soil types), metering/monitoring documentation, and a decommissioning plan with escrow.

The commission scheduled its next meeting for Oct. 23 and adjourned.