Hopkinsville City Council approved final reading of the city’s first solar energy system ordinance, which requires that large-scale operations of 40 acres or more with ground-mounted panels be set back at least 1,000 feet from property boundaries.
The vote at Tuesday’s meeting was unanimous with all 12 council members present.
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The Community and Development Services governing board had approved the solar energy regulations as an amendment to the city’s Code of Ordinances on Sept. 26 and forwarded it to city council.
The policy passed despite opposition from landowner and former council member Marby Schlegel, who argued the 1,000-foot setback requirement is excessive. Her family owns roughly 600 acres in the city limits that is being considered for a solar farm. The land borders Pembroke Road and Martin Luther King Boulevard.
The setback requirement is more than “three football fields,” Schlegel told council members.
She said smaller solar fields, such as the one at Stanley Fasteners across Pembroke Road from the Schlegel farm, are set close to the road and have no requirement for trees or other barriers to block the view for passersby.
“I think you really should reconsider,” she said.
Tom Britton, executive director of CDS, said the setback requirements are different for solar projects less than 40 acres. In the city limits, industries will likely want solar fields in the range of 10, 20 or 30 acres to generate power for their purposes, he said.
CDS aimed to mirror state regulations for setbacks on large solar farms, he added.
“Anybody can apply for a dimensional variance,” he added, explaining that property owners looking to develop solar farms could request a different setback by going to the Board of Zoning Adjustment.
After the meeting, Schlegel told Hoptown Chronicle the 1,000-foot setback that council approved would essentially kill her project.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
