Solar moratorium sent back to county planners

A proposed moratorium on both commercial wind and commercial solar projects for two years by the county planning commission was struck down by Jackson County Commissioners at their meeting on Monday morning.

Members of the planning commission met last Thursday evening, Sept. 5, to discuss several topics, including a two-year moratorium on commercial wind projects.

The wind moratorium was originally passed by the county commission on Jan. 17 and was being discussed at the planning meeting for review and approval.

During that meeting, Steven Willett, a member of the planning commission, recommended adding commercial solar projects to the two-year wind moratorium, according to Jackson County Appraiser Kate Immenschuh. 

After some discussion, the planning commission approved both a commercial wind and commercial solar moratorium for two years on a 3-2 vote, it was reported. Steven Willett, Delbert Boling and Ben Pruett voted in favor of the revised moratorium and Jonathan Wimer and Chris Abernathy voted against it.

On Monday, Immenschuh discussed the planning commission decision with the county commissioners. 

“Mr. Willett does not have the authority to do that because it was not published in the paper and there was no opportunity for public comment,” Commissioner Mark Pruett said of the addition of solar projects to the proposed resolution.

A public notice was published in The Holton Recorder on Aug. 14 detailing the agenda for the Sept. 5 meeting of the county planning commission. The agenda did not include a discussion on commercial solar projects.

Part of the agenda, as published in the public notice, stated that a public hearing would be held to consider a temporary amendment to the county zoning regulations to allow a 24-month moratorium on commercial wind energy applications and projects. 

The county commissioners – Pruett, Keith Kelly and Dan Brenner – approved a motion to reject the commercial wind and commercial solar moratorium resolution presented by the planning commission.

Without public notice and opportunity for public comment, the commissioners said that members of the planning commission were in violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act and created a liability for the county.

For more on this and other stories, please log in to your holtonrecorder.net account and select “Sept. 11, 2024” under “E-Editions.”