The Porter County Board of Commissioners Tuesday morning voted unanimously on first reading of a Porter County Plan Commission resolution recommending the repealing and replacing of Ordinance 20-11, which sets the rules for solar energy systems like the one currently being proposed in Morgan Township.
While such a step would not affect any application for solar arrays made prior to repeal, the process is moving quickly as county officials decided they should analyze the current ordinance for flaws before any further applications are made. Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, said NextEra Energy Resources submitted an application for its proposed Malden Solar Farm last week.
The Post-Tribune has filed an Access to Public Records Act request with the county for any application that may have been filed by NextEra as the Department of Development & Storm Water Management has not made such documents available to the public without an APRA request.
The current ordinance was adopted in 2020 just as the pandemic was shutting the world down. There was talk the state of Indiana was planning a solar ordinance and the county wanted to supersede a possibly-weaker state ordinance with one of its own.
Since then concerns have emerged over possible weak points in that ordinance, such as a lack of a maximum allowable noise level emitted by a solar farm. “Our ordinance is silent on that,” Bob Thompson, director of the Department of Development & Storm Water Management told the board.
At its March 14 meeting commissioners tasked the plan commission with forming a subcommittee with the intent of developing a recommendation of what to do with ordinance 20-11 of the Unified Development Ordinance.
Wednesday all eight members of the Plan Commission voted to recommend to commissioners that they repeal and replace the solar amendment. The 15-page amendment to the UDO was adopted April 14, 2020 and allows for the permitting of principal solar energy systems (PSES) on land zoned General Agriculture District (A1).
Tuesday morning Biggs asked Thompson to explain why the county felt there needed to be a revision. “I do not have that report in front of me,” Thompson replied. Stu Summers, consultant to both the commissioners and the plan commission, came forward with notes. The subcommittee tasked with formulating a recommendation identified a number of areas it felt required either further research or revision.
Under environmental concerns, the subcommittee recommends research on panel construction so that a specific panel type that can not leach harmful substances into the surrounding environment could be specified in the new ordinance. A study of the impacts on wildlife, including migratory birds, was also recommended.
The subcommittee would also like to see a decommissioning agreement, including a requirement for a bond and its renewal every five years. Thompson said there is currently no bond requirement in the ordinance.
Setback and landscaping requirements, maximum noise levels, a labor agreement calling for the use of local labor, density and site location restrictions, and soil analysis to determine prime farmland designation are also called for when the ordinance is replaced. “It sounds like they did their homework,” Biggs said of the subcommittee.
When the floor was opened up for public comment for and against repealing and revising the current ordinance only one person spoke. Rachel Conner, executive director for Hoosiers for Renewables, acknowledged she does not live in Porter County but urged the board to vote against the resolution. “We also ask that the process be incredibly transparent,” she said.
Commissioners Vice President Barb Regnitz, R-Center, then made a motion to repeal and replace the ordinance, followed by a second from Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South. Biggs joined in a vote to repeal and replace upon first reading.
The three will reconvene at 1 p.m. Thursday for a second reading.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
