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Commission debates whether to prohibit or discourage wind, solar, data centers and other large uses
Summary
Commissioners agreed to acknowledge community concern about five large-scale land uses (wind, solar, data centers, battery storage, landfill expansion) and debated whether the comp plan should prohibit them or use softer language; the group reached consensus to allow stronger prohibitory language in the plan text where appropriate and to refine that language in the next draft.
The draft Comprehensive Plan listed five high-profile land uses — wind energy, solar energy, data centers, battery storage facilities, and landfill expansion — as primary concerns. Commissioners discussed whether the plan should "strongly discourage" or explicitly "prohibit" some of those uses. Jesse Hough said he preferred the softer phrase "strongly discourage," while Will Reiter favored prohibition; as summarized in the meeting record, Reiter "prefers the word 'prohibit.'"
At least one public commenter, Paul Maxwell, urged the commission not to outright prohibit data centers and instead to allow review as special/conditional uses. Maxwell said he believes the community survey does not support blanket prohibition and asked the commission to change "prohibited uses" language to allow conditional review. The commission did not enact any immediate prohibition; rather, members directed the consultant to prepare revised language that reflects their discussion and to circulate it before the Aug. 19 meeting.
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