Pottawatomie County planning officials are slowly working toward developing a publicly available draft for solar farm regulations.
A joint meeting was held last Thursday between the three Pottawatomie County commissioners and the 10-member Planning Commission. County Planner Stephan Metzger tells KMAN that coming to consensus on a plan has not been easy.
“The one thing that they all agree on is that they don’t really have a consensus on just about anything yet on this, not because of individual disagreements, just because it’s a complicated issue and we’re all trying to learn basically from the ground up,” he said.
Because Pottawatomie County doesn’t have anything on the books governing solar farms, a number of questions have been raised over property rights as well as the visual, environmental and land use impacts. Commissioner Greg Riat applauds the planning commission for its work on drafting the guidelines thus far, and says it has led to “spirited discussion” from both sides.
“I think that’s important to get in there and to get to the bottom of this thing and find out what’s best for our community, our county, and at the same time try to respect our rights we have with property but also not go overboard,” he said.
Two informational meetings are planned in the spring, with details still being finalized. More information on the current draft is available at www.pottcounty.org/524/Renewable-Energy.
