Planning Commission: No industrial solar on Fayette County farmland

Lexington’s planning board has recommended solar farms be prohibited on agricultural land.

The Urban County Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday night to adopt a zone text amendment that establishes what types of solar can go where in Fayette County. The amendment recommended large solar operations on farmland be prohibited, a win for farmland preservationists who pushed for the ban.

But the battle over solar farms on agricultural land is not over. The zone text amendment now heads to the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council, which has final say over the county’s new solar rules.

It’s not clear when the council will take up the ordinance.

The zone text amendment was proposed by Silicon Ranch, a Tennessee-based solar developer, who wants to build a large-scale solar farm on hundreds of acres in Fayette County. A zone text amendment, a change to the county’s zoning rules, was needed because the current zoning regulations do not regulate solar.

Silicon Ranch had urged Fayette County planners to allow solar farms on agricultural land with a conditional use permit. That means a solar operator would have to get permission from city planning boards to install solar on farmland.

The group has an option to purchase 797 acres in the Haley Road area adjacent to East Kentucky Power Cooperative proposed 384-acre solar farm.

East Kentucky Power Cooperative is a public utility and does not have to follow city zoning laws. It must go through a process with the Kentucky Public Service Commission. That case is still ongoing.

City planners recommended not allowing solar farms on agricultural land because it was not known how the installation of ground-mounted solar effects the quality of the soil. Solar farms are still new.

“75% have been installed since 2016,” said Daniel Crum, a senior planner.

The proposed rules are for integrated solar systems, roof-mounted solar systems and ground-mounted solar systems.

“Larger scale use will largely be in industrial zones,” Crum said. Large ground-mounted systems will be allowed in the industrial and some of the business zones.

But the planning commission did not ban all solar on agricultural land.

Smaller, roof-top solar or integrated solar systems will be allowed in the agricultural zone under the proposed rules.

Silicon Ranch proposes changes

Darby Turner, a lawyer for Silicon Ranch, recommended Fayette County allow large ground-mounted solar if it is an agrivoltaics, a dual use of solar and agriculture. Silicon Ranch uses sheep on many of its solar farms to help maintain grasses.

Turner said they also proposed requiring a land management plan.

The main concern in allowing solar farms on agricultural land is destroying soil quality. A land management plan addresses those concerns, Turner said.

Silicon Ranch’s proposal to add wide-scale solar and continue to use it for agricultural purposes is an innovative solution, he said.

“I’m very frustrated,” Turner said.

Daniel Bell is the shepherd on Silicon Ranch’s operation in Garrard County. He now runs about 700 sheep on Silicon Ranch’s property in Garrard County.

“It’s provided our family a lot of financial stability,” Bell said. The sheep love the clover and the shade of the solar panels. “Shade is a game changer for farms,” he said. “They are comfortable. They are able to graze throughout the day.”

Concerns about farmland

Brittany Roethemeier, executive director of Fayette Alliance, said Fayette Alliance is not against solar. It supports solar and renewable energy. Fayette Alliance advocates for farmland and smart growth policies.

But industrial-scale solar farms should not be on agricultural land, she said.

“It’s contrary to our agricultural zones,” she said.

Those agricultural zones are there to protect that land for agricultural use, she said.

“It represents economic development. It represents jobs,” Roethemeier said of Fayette County’s farmland. Fayette County has some of the best soils in the state and the country. “87% of our land is prime soil.”

Phillip Meyer, a farmer, said he, too, supported the ban on industrial solar on farmland.

“We are better suited putting (solar) on the built environment,” Meyer said.