Proposed solar moratorium fails at county planning meeting

A proposed two-year moratorium on commercial solar projects in Jackson County failed on a 4-4 vote during the Jackson County Planning Commission meeting last Thursday evening.

During the meeting, which drew about 40 people to the Jackson County Courthouse, 15 minutes of comments from both proponents and opponents of a solar moratorium were allowed, with each person allotted one minute to speak. 

At the end of the discussion, planning commission member Doug Fisher made a motion to approve a two-year moratorium on commercial solar projects in the county. The motion was seconded but did not pass on a 4-4 vote. 

Planning commission members Fisher, Luke Kennedy, Chris Gordon and Ernie DeBusk voted in favor of the moratorium, and commission members Trevor Ashcraft, Bob Phillips, Jason Murphy and Jonathan Wimer voted against it. Commission member David Anderson was absent from the meeting. 

Representatives of NextEra Energy Resources of Juno Beach, Fla., initially reached out to the Jackson County Commission in 2022 to introduce themselves and discuss the possibility of establishing, a 2,000-acre commercial solar farm near Delia. NextEra later reported that the farm, named the Jeffrey Solar Project, would encompass 5,000 acres.

The county does not have zoning regulations specifically related to commercial solar projects, so the commissioners and the previous county counselor spent more than a year creating draft regulations. Those regulations were given to the planning commission in December 2024. 

Those regulations have been reworked, and last fall, two hearings for members of the public to comment on the proposed regulations were held and drew standing-room only crowds. 

Members of the planning commission have continued to discuss the draft regulations but have not completed a final draft for a vote. 

If the planning commission approves regulations, they would be sent to the county commission for a final vote. 

At last Thursday’s planning commission meeting, 11 supporters of the moratorium spoke, raising concerns about post-disaster cleanup, whether Delia’s infrastructure could support such a project, potential impacts on neighboring property values, safety issues and how the solar panels would be disposed of at the end of the project. 

Five people spoke in opposition to the moratorium, including participating landowners and Sherman Burnett of NextEra.

Burnett said the Jeffrey Solar Project has been scaled back and would remain at 2,000 acres. 

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