By Brenda Erdahl
Wright County Commissioners have taken the first step in resolving concerns that led to a moratorium on solar farms in Wright County recently.
Commissioners set the moratorium at the Jan. 26 meeting in order to take a closer look at an ordinance that was put in place five plus years ago and may no longer afford Wright County residents the protection they deserve.
On Wednesday, Feb. 24, an advisory committee made up of commissioners, industry representatives, township representatives, citizens and members of the planning commission will meet to begin hashing out what should remain and what should be updated in the aging ordinance. Some of the issues they will look at include vegetative cover, land alteration, wetlands and drainage.
The decision to put a moratorium in place was not made lightly and commissioners listened for close to an hour as residents voiced their opinions for and against such a move at a public hearing built into their Jan. 26 regular meeting.
Commissioners said the moratorium is in response to recent development pressure as well as comments received from the community, the townships, and the cities.
Wright County Planning and Zoning Administrator Sean Riley came to the County Board’s Tuesday, Feb. 2 meeting for direction on how best to proceed with the study. When this same issue was addressed five to six years ago, a committee of about 20 members went through a process that took about a year to finalize, he said. The result was the current ordinance that is up for debate today. Commissioner Christine Husom has said she hopes the process this time around will go much quicker as they are just tweaking and updating a document that already has a sound base.
Evan Carlson of IPS Solar, who said the ordinance is already “enormously restrictive,” was on the original committee and has said he is willing to take part again this time around. Rob Schultz of Minnesota Native Landscape, who applauded IPS’s use of local contractors with their solar projects at last week’s hearing, also expressed interest in being on the committee.
Riley said he would prefer the committee consist of fewer than 20 members this time around and to that end suggested two or three commissioners interested in being on the committee appoint the rest of the members. Others expressing interest in serving among this group include representatives from Monticello township, Franklin Township and Harlan Anderson of District 5 who currently has a solar farm on his property. The other commissioners said they will reach out to townships in their districts to see if there is interest.
“I think there is great interest on all sides to resolve this as quick as possible,” Commissioner Mike Kaczmarek said.
Wright County currently has 15 to 20 solar sites within its boundaries and has worked with five to 10 different developers over the years, Riley has said.