ARIMO — Hundreds of residents of Downey and Southeast Idaho gathered Monday at Marsh Valley High School to give feedback on new solar ordinances proposed for Bannock County.
Gathered in front of Bannock County Commissioners, concerned residents were granted three minutes each to discuss regulations regarding large-scale solar energy projects within Downey and Southeast Idaho. Over 50 individuals spoke at the meeting.
Currently, there are three variations of the solar ordinance draft that have been presented. The first is the initial rough draft constructed by the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission that detailed some of the rudimentary basics for ordinances and restrictions regarding solar.
The second iteration was a revised version that took into consideration aspects like the World Health Organization’s recommendation of a 1.2-mile setback from the nearest residential home, along with altering ordinance language to define solar and similarly defined categories as agrivoltaics, which is a synthesis of both agriculture and solar photovoltaic energy generation.
The third draft that was presented was more general in its definition and was closer to an outright ban on solar projects throughout Bannock County.
Bannock County Commissioner Jeff Hough took six pages of notes at the meeting and is carefully considering public feedback to ensure all bases are covered and that the ordinance encapsulates the wide gambit of concerns expressed by local residents.
“One of the big concerns we had last night was the issue with fire suppression and fire, that was one of the things that we hadn’t quite talked about a lot,” Hough said. “They brought up some concerns about that, so that’ll be something that we take a close look at.”
Some of the issues brought up by local residents were impacts on localized water sources and enacting mandates that would cover the potential for decommissioned projects, ensuring that the energy companies were responsible for their cleanup.
“We’ve already kind of addressed decommissioning,” Hough said. “There are a couple of other things that we might look at, based on some of the feedback but we’re still processing.”
One of the decisions being mulled over is an industrial zoning definition, which would potentially pose broader limitations but come with its own complications as well. Beautification and preservation of natural vegetation were also brought up by many in attendance.
“A lot of the comments that came up last night were how people talked about coming over the Malad pass and seeing the beauty of the valley, which I completely agree with,” Hough said. “I think our valley is very beautiful. Whatever we can do to maintain that it’s important to all of us here on the commission.”
Hough continued, “In regard to the industrial zoning, I have some concerns about that because then we have spot zoning issues throughout the county. That’s typically not a good practice to have spot zones. That’s an issue that we’re going to have to talk about and see what makes sense.”
In a general sense, spot zoning is defined as the application of zoning to a specific parcel or parcels of land within a larger zoned area when the rezoning is potentially at odds with a city’s zoning restrictions and general master plan.
Arrangements have already been made for a meeting at the commissioner’s chambers at the Bannock County Courthouse at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 15 where commissioners will discuss Monday’s meeting and any changes, alterations or suggestions as the ordinance moves steadily forward.
Depending on any decisions made at that meeting the commissioners will hold one more public hearing in their chambers to refine the ordinance and possibly hold a vote at the end of the public hearing.
According to the feedback received at the Monday night meeting, Hough believes as far as the citizens of Downey are concerned “the community of Downey is not interested in a very large-scale solar project.”
“One of the things that came up several times last night was to make sure that the taxes generated in that area stay in that area,” Hough said. “I don’t know what the feasibility of that is, but that’s something that we’re going to try to look at.”
Anyone interested in these solar ordinances and how they will be constructed and enacted can visit the county website at bannockcounty.us/solar to stay current on any updates as they are released.
“As a commission, we were very grateful for the amount of public input and participation we’ve had in this,” Hough said. “That is huge. We’re grateful for that.”
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