Dearborn County planners refine small‑scale solar rules, debate screening and abandonment language
Summary
Planning staff walked the commission through draft small‑scale solar rules (Article 19.10), highlighting permitting standards, screening, glare mitigation and whether abandonment should be handled under the unsafe‑building code or a decommissioning requirement.
Nicole, the county’s planning director, told the commission that the draft small‑scale section (19.10) lays out permitting and technical review criteria for residential and agricultural rooftop or ground‑mounted systems and compiles public comments and suggested edits. "These projects would be those on individual houses or agricultural farms," she said, explaining the packet and where recent comments were shown.
Board members and staff debated how to limit small projects on ground‑mounted arrays. One option raised was a fixed acreage cap — "2 acres" — while others favored a percentage of property area so limits would scale with parcel sizes. Nicole said a 2‑acre cap could be handled as a variance if applicants need more. Commissioners asked staff to prepare language that would allow tech review or the BZA to handle exceptions with clear criteria to avoid ad hoc decisions.
The group also flagged maintenance, screening and glare as areas needing clearer definitions. Nicole said enforcement for maintenance would generally follow existing zoning enforcement and Article 6 penalties. On abandonment, she recommended relying on the county’s unsafe‑building ordinance for small residential systems but recommended drafting a decommissioning plan and timetable for community‑scale systems so the county has a clear path for larger projects. "I would suggest probably the unsafe building ordinance as there's more teeth to that ordinance than there is a zoning ordinance," she said.
The commission agreed staff should redraft the small‑scale language to: clarify screening and glare standards, spell out whether roofs count against ground‑coverage limits (staff recommended roofs be excluded), and provide an explicit decommissioning path for community projects. The commission also asked staff to bring back suggested criteria that the technical review committee would use when approving placements in yards or front‑setback areas.
Nicole said she would compare similar county ordinances and present recommended edits at a subsequent session.
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