By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Solar energy plans that are TaylorMade for Barton County. Planning Commission Vice-Co-chairperson Mary Anne Stoskopf said that is the goal of the body in developing its own solar energy regulations after examining similar documents from the city of DeSoto and Douglas and Sedgwick Counties. The planning commission held another public meeting last Thursday morning to continue its work on those regulations, including the approval of a proposed zoning map. Stoskopf said part of the issue has been a lack of available information.
"There are only 40-something counties that have zoning regulations," she said. "There are far less than that that have zoning regulations on solar energy. When we started this process, there wasn't a lot of information available to use for us to draw on."
Planning commissioners got to work after answering questions from citizens on both sides of the solar issue. One issue is the moratorium on commercial solar energy in the county that is set to expire at the end of the year. Chris Clasen, who has leased land to Acciona Energy as part of the proposed solar farm in the county, expressed frustration that an extension of the moratorium could mean up to 12 months of waiting. Stoskopf said that's a byproduct of developing good regulations. It was noted during a January meeting with Acciona representatives in attendance that previous wind energy regulations took more than a year to develop. Acciona elected not to apply for a conditional-use permit prior to the moratorium being implemented in May.
"We have to have something that stands up to a legal challenge or we're putting the taxpayers of Barton County at risk," Stoskopf said. "We have to make sure we're doing this in a balanced way, that we're as transparent as possible. We've never been challenged on the wind energy regulations we developed."
County Zoning Administrator Judy Goreham reminded everyone that the nine planning commissioners all serve in volunteer roles, some with more than two decades of experience. The commission usually meets once a month but has doubled its workload to work on the solar regulations. Their regular duties have not slowed since taking on the additional work.
"We have to remember, they're not paid," Goreham said. "I'm paid. If somebody has comments or feedback, call me, email me. I will communicate it to them. They're not elected officials. They're appointed by the commission."
Goreham also reminded everyone that the planning commission merely makes recommendations to the Barton County Board of Commissioners. That body can approve the recommendation with a simple majority of three votes, or reject or change the recommendation with a supermajority of four votes. The board of commissioners will vote on the continuance of the moratorium at its Dec. 19 meeting.