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Lynn Township reviews proposed limits on solar installations, debate centers on preserved farmland
Summary
The Lynn Township Board reviewed Planning Commission recommendations to amend the township solar ordinance to allow community solar while barring large solar installations on land under publicly funded agricultural conservation easements; supervisors asked the solicitor to draft amendment language.
The Lynn Township Board of Supervisors reviewed proposed amendments to Ordinance 23-01 on July 11 that would add Community Solar Energy Systems (CSES) to the township's code while prohibiting both CSES and large private solar energy systems (PSES) on parcels enrolled in permanently preserved farmland programs funded with public money.
The change stems from Planning Commission recommendations after review of state legislation (House Bill 1842) and follows concern among some supervisors that public conservation easements should not be used to site commercial-scale solar. "I was opposed to preserved farmland being used for solar farms," Supervisor Ronald Jerdon said during the meeting. Chairman Brian C. Dietrich suggested the board consider allowing solar only in an overlay district rather than broadly across the township.
Resident Mike Kobordo asked whether farmers working with solar companies could place large arrays on cleared land; Vice Chairman Frederick Najarian responded that the township ordinance would limit solar to less productive soils and that parcels enrolled in permanently funded conservation easements—about 8,000 acres referenced in the discussion—would not be eligible for commercial solar under the proposed language.
Solicitor Marc Fisher was asked to prepare draft amendment language for the board to review at a future meeting. The board did not take a formal vote on the ordinance at the July 11 meeting; the session was a review and direction to solicitor and staff.
Why it matters: The proposed amendment would balance state-level changes enabling community solar with local farmland-protection commitments. If written broadly, the ordinance could affect which parcels are eligible for commercial solar development, potentially limiting opportunities on land protected by public conservation funding.
Next steps: The solicitor will draft amendment language reflecting the board's direction for review by the board and Planning Commission at a later meeting.
