Zoning board adds bite to regulations
Solar farms may have more strict limitations if county commissioners accept an amendment unanimously recommended by the Oglethorpe County Zoning Board on Monday.
The amendment has been in preparation since May, two months after the Board of Commissioners approved a six-month moratorium on solar projects, Zoning Board Chair Janet Hill said.
“Our existing ordinance is pretty skimpy, I guess is the best way to describe it,” Hill said. “The big solar farm on Goose Pond Road brought to light the deficiencies in our existing solar farm ordinance. And so this is an effort to establish good ground rules and limitations on what they can do and how they can do it.”
The Timberland Solar Project on Goose Pond Road is one of two solar farms in the county. It has applied to expand to nearly 3,500 acres with the recent acquisition of two more tracts of a combined 1,998 acres. The Wolfskin Project is on Double Bridges Road near the Athens-Clarke County line.
The review and motion was a part of an 90-minute meeting that reviewed each of the 11 sections that will replace Section 712 of the Unified Development Code of Oglethorpe County.
The Zoning Board’s goal was to amend the section before the moratorium ends on Sept. 6.
“Then, any new solar farms would have to abide by the policies of the ordinances under the new go-ahead,” Hill said.
Jeff Sharp, code compliance officer, said an emphasis in the new amendment was protecting the 50% of tree cover on the solar farms’ land and specifically targeting solar panel companies, not residential panels.
Section 712.03-712.04 of the amendment also proposes specific buffers to inhibit runoff that has affected residents in the county.
County planner McKenzie Spooner created a list of items to add to the ordinance. It includes:
- A resolution about development.
- Specifications on tree removal.
- A 24-month vegetation regulation.
- Surety bonds.
- A tax abatement, which is deferred to the Board of Commissioners.
Sharp said the proposed new rules are likely not in their final form.
“This may not be the end all,” he said. “This is a living document that we may continually change all along. So, we tried to hit a home run, but if we find something in there we don't like, then we can always change this.”
Board members Morgan Robinson, Robert Drew, Jimmy Shealy and JF Hansford unanimously approved the revised ordinance.
“I just don't want to see this county being exploited just like this battle we got with sludge dumping and Oglethorpe being dumped on,” said Commission Chair Jay Paul, who was in attendance. “I don't want us to feel the wrath of these mega solar farms and just run all over.”
Hill said the amendment is not about outlawing solar farms.
“We just want to make sure that it's done properly and the assets of the county's natural resources, et cetera, are protected,” she said.
The amended ordinance will be presented to the Board of Commissioners. Its next meeting is Sept. 11, but Paul said the revised ordinance might not be on that agenda.