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County debates solar ordinance specifics and whether data centers should face similar decommissioning and setback rules
Summary
Commissioners discussed draft solar ordinance language — minimum panel height (36 in.), maximum height (16 ft.), a limit referenced as 400 acres and decommissioning surety bonds — and whether to apply similar rules to proposed data centers; a public commenter raised concerns that construction had made farmland unusable in other counties.
Commissioners spent the bulk of the meeting reviewing draft solar ordinance language and whether the same standards should also constrain proposed data centers. The chair (Speaker 1) and others read specific provisions aloud: "minimum of 36 inches high," with a "maximum of 16 feet," and a general cap phrased in the transcript as "nothing bigger than 400 acres." The draft requires cabling between rows to be on the ground and contemplates a five‑year engineering reassessment of decommissioning costs with corresponding surety‑bond adjustments to ensure funds exist for removal.
The chair cited problems elsewhere: "There was no surety bond. There was no money available... it really fell on the farmers, on the landowners to pay for that million dollar thing..." — a reference to past decommissioning cases in Benton County. Commissioners discussed special exceptions (one‑year buildout to keep a special exception valid) and how the BZA/BCA (board referenced in the draft as the enforcement body) would handle enforcement. A public commenter (Speaker 4) related resident interviews near a construction‑phase data center and said of construction impacts: "the ground would never be usable again because of the way that they did it." The commenter urged limits on permanent ground impact; commissioners noted the draft's decommissioning and bonding language aims to address that risk.
Next steps the chair outlined: staff will finish drafting county language and the commission expects to revisit the item at the next meeting with an anticipated vote unless new concerns arise. The transcript shows detailed policy language discussed on setbacks, footprints and surety but does not record a final adoption vote in the provided excerpt.
