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Planning & Zoning Commission to recommend solar panel amendments

Meeting set for tonight at the Courthouse

The Webster County Planning and Zoning Commission will meet Tuesday evening to introduce an ordinance amendment to allow for more widespread use of solar panels in agricultural zones.

The amendment would ask county supervisors to allow for solar farm installations in those areas.

A meeting on the matter will be held in the Supervisors Room, on the second floor of the Webster County Courthouse, tonight at 7 p.m.

New language introduced would help facilitate the adoption of solar generation stations with conditional use, said Jeff Johnson, Planning and Zoning administrator. The administrator said they are recommending that solar collection systems and generation stations be allowed on a conditional basis, with input from decision makers, in order to help mitigate adverse impacts. Conditional use permits require public hearings.

Johnson said the commission welcomes the public’s input at the meeting on Tuesday before it is sent to Webster County Supervisors for approval.

The amendment written may serve as a model for similar county-wide amendments across the state. The draft to be presented Tuesday “reflects best practices for county regulation,” with utility-scale solar energy collection, according to Kerri Johannsen, energy program director with the Iowa Environmental Council.

Johnson said that agricultural land is typically unencumbered and flat, making it optimal for solar panel farms. When solar operations are finished, land could be returned back to use for farming or mineral extraction.

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