Should Scott County allow community solar gardens on private rural properties as a permitted land use? If yes, what types of restrictions, if any, do you support to lessen impact to neighboring landowners and the community at large?

UPDATE:

The Scott County Planning Advisory Commission will be holding a public hearing on October 12, 2015 to consider a proposed zoning text amendment to allow Community Solar Gardens as a permitted principal land use in the County’s agricultural, urban transition, commercial and industrial zoning districts.

The text amendment was initiated by staff in response to a growing number of inquiries from private property owners and solar garden developers interested in locating this type of land use in the township areas.

The proposed zoning text amendment attempts to establish a balance between accommodating this type of interim land use with the rural character of the county, by establishing maximum footprint size, power capacity, panel height, setbacks from property lines and adjacent homes, and screening requirements. The staff report and draft ordinance amendment can be found here.

PLEASE NOTE: All comments submitted on Speak Up Scott County after September 30, 2015 will be provided to the Planning Commission as written testimony for the public hearing. The public hearing for this item will be held on October 12, 2015 at 7:00 PM, in the County Board Room, of the Scott County Government Center, 200 Fourth Avenue West, Shakopee, Minnesota. 

Recently, several Scott County landowners have been contacted by companies looking to establish community solar gardens.  This uptick in interest in solar gardens is a result of state legislation passed in 2013 requiring Xcel Energy to provide 1.5 percent of their energy from solar by 2020.  The law also creates a goal of obtaining 10 percent from solar by 2030.

Private solar companies are now looking for sites in Minnesota to construct these solar gardens, and Xcel Energy will purchase the solar energy from these private companies.  This is already happening in a couple of other states, including Colorado. (The solar gardens must be located in Xcel Energy’s service territory.)

These companies are typically looking to purchase or lease five to 20 acres, for a term of not less than 20 years.  Currently, the Scott County Zoning Ordinance does not allow community solar gardens as a permitted land use, but we’d like to hear from you about this issue… so Speak Up, Scott County!

Should Scott County allow community solar gardens on private rural properties as a permitted land use?  If yes, what types of restrictions, if any, do you support to lessen impact to neighboring landowners and the community at large?