Delaware County plan commission agrees on new solar zoning ordinance, sends to commissioners
Delaware County has rewritten its zoning ordinance for solar energy projects on farmland in the county. As IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports, the effort duplicates a previous two-year process, as more residents spoke out about their opposition to solar.
Audio Transcript
The first ordinance was passed in late 2023 after a multi-year process and the outpouring of vitriol about putting large-scale solar panel projects on county farmland. Less than a year later, county commissioners basically began the whole process over again, after hearing from local farmers who were still not happy about solar company interest in Delaware County.
Chris Smith is president of the Delaware-Muncie Metropolitan Plan Commission.
“We are not voting on whether or not solar farms can be constructed in Delaware County. But, rather, if they are, these are the rules we would like to use.”
Kylene Swackhammer is the commission’s executive director. She says between 2023 and Tuesday night, a new and expanded ordinance was written and will replace the previous one.
“It’s not like a red-line copy of ‘this text was changed to this.’ Because it’s significantly different. I mean, even the length of the document is significantly different.”
The commission made several amendments to that new document Tuesday night and ultimately voted 8-1 to recommend the county commissioners approve the ordinance. Voting no was Jesse Landess, a third-generation farmer from Daleville.
Before that, they heard several hours of local comment on bringing large solar projects to Delaware County
Farmer Charles Lancaster signed his land up for a solar project “to stabilize and supplement my farm income to offset the ever-increasing property taxes and other related expenses.”
Fellow farmer Ryan Richards is worried about being completely surrounded by solar panels. He says, “I’ve spent 25 years building grain bins, pole barns. I can’t just pick that stuff up and leave. I’m stuck there.”
The proposed ordinance included several sections the 2023 version did not have. It speaks of limitations on using “prime farmground,” as identified by state and local surveys. It includes a property value guarantee that was removed in 2023 after a county-paid consultant said it was largely unenforceable. It also includes a section on “commercial battery energy storage systems” that was not considered two years ago.
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With a favorable recommendation, the ordinance goes to the Delaware County Commissioners for a vote on adoption. The county’s moratorium on solar projects cannot end until after that vote.
While the moratorium was in place, the federal government canceled $117 million in grant funding intended for solar projects in Indiana, through the Solar for All program.
Stephanie Wiechmann is our Managing Editor and “All Things Considered” Host. Contact her at slwiechmann@bsu.edu.
