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Commission sets county acreage caps and tables final setbacks after corridor mapping
Summary
The commission voted to cap total county acreage for utility-scale solar at 5,000 acres and limited any single utility-scale facility to 500 acres; setback specifics for corridor districts were discussed, with members asking for consultant and legal input and tabling final setback language.
Commissioners adopted two numeric limits for utility-scale solar in the draft ordinance: a countywide cap of 5,000 acres for utility-scale facilities and a maximum of 500 acres for any one utility-scale facility.
Grace DiBiase explained the change in phrasing for the acreage limit: "The total number of acres available for utility scale solar energy facility projects shall not exceed 5,000 acres within the county," and the commission then debated an appropriate single-facility cap before voting to set the single-facility maximum at 500 acres. Commissioners said the caps were intended to allow multiple developers and avoid a single large monopoly site.
Staff presented GIS maps showing how proposed occupied-building setbacks (the commission had previously discussed a 1,500-foot figure) would overlap heavily with corridor and industrial zones; commissioners discussed more moderate options (300 to 500 feet in corridor areas) and unanimously agreed to table final setback language until the consultant and legal review could propose text tailored to corridor constraints.
