BOONE COUNTY, Ky. — Boone County is one step closer to prohibiting large solar farms in an effort to preserve rural farmland.
On Jan. 9, the Boone County Fiscal Court conducted a first reading of an ordinance that would add language to the county’s zoning code to regulate and define solar energy systems and battery storage facilities within unincorporated county land.
Before the regulations were presented to the fiscal court, the Boone County Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval.
The new regulations would prohibit large solar farms and only allow solar storage facilities on parcels of land with an ‘industrial’ zoning designation. The regulations would not prohibit rooftop-mounted solar systems in industrial zones.
“This is really geared to industrial uses and residential uses,” Boone County Zoning Administrator Michael Schwartz said. “For battery storage facilities, it relegates the larger industrial type to those industrial zones.”
If passed, the regulations would only apply to the future development of private solar farms. Schwartz confirmed to the fiscal court that Kentucky state law – KRS 100.324 – dictates that public utility facilities are exempt from local planning and zoning requirements.
Moreover, according to the Kentucky Resource Council, solar arrays proposed by a utility regulated by the Public Service Commission or a municipal utility are exempt from local planning and zoning requirements.
“It does protect from private, non-utility development of solar farms, Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore said.
The fiscal court last discussed the issue at a meeting on Oct.1 when Moore expressed his desire for Boone County to restrict the growth of large-scale, ground-mounted solar panel farms to preserve rural farmland. Moore prefers that firms invest more in rooftop solar installations on big-box industrial buildings.
At that meeting, Boone County Administrator Matthew Webster noted that the zoning regulations allowed the fiscal court to publicly decide what kind of solar energy installations the county wants looking ahead.
Some Boone County companies have invested heavily in rooftop solar over the past year. In 2023, Duke Energy and Amazon unveiled Kentucky’s largest rooftop solar installation on top of the Amazon Air facility at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. The installation includes 5,600 solar panels that feed up to two megawatts of power directly onto the electric distribution grid.
Boone County is not the only local government that has taken measures to reign in solar farm development. In February 2023, the Kentucky Lantern – a LINK nky content partner – reported that 13 county fiscal courts and seven city governments across Kentucky had taken measures to regulate solar projects within their jurisdiction.
A second reading of the ordinance is scheduled for the next fiscal court meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
This story originally appeared on our partner's website LINK nky.
