Public Meetings Set for Linn County’s Proposed Solar Project Ordinance Changes

The Linn County Board of Supervisors has set meeting dates and times to hear the proposed ordinance changes for utility-scale solar projects in Linn County. 

The ordinance readings are scheduled for September 5th, 13th and 20th. All meetings will take place at 10 a.m. at the Jean Oxley Linn County Public Service Center in Cedar Rapids. Each meeting will have an opportunity for public comment at the beginning and end of the meeting. 

The first meeting on Tuesday, September 5th will also include a public hearing, which allows the public to provide comments during the agenda item. 

Last fall, the Board of Supervisors had placed a moratorium on accepting utility-scale solar applications to allow time for Planning & Development staff to create Renewable Energy Committees to help closely examine and analyze Linn County’s renewable energy standards, taking lessons learned from the two recent utility-scale solar rezoning applications. The Renewable Energy Review Committees are four special-purpose advisory committees formed with the specific goal of exploring parts of Linn County’s renewable energy overlay zoning district requirements for utility-scale renewable energy projects. The four committees focused on: Good Neighbor Practices (setbacks and screening), Battery Energy Storage Systems (placement and safety considerations), Balancing Agriculture and Solar (vegetation requirements, agrivoltaic considerations), and Lifecycle Costs (decommissioning plan requirements and considerations, operation and maintenance plan requirements and considerations).

Linn County Planning & Development staff used statements from the Renewable Energy Review Committees, the Board of Supervisors, and the public to draft the proposed ordinance changes. 

The current solar moratorium is set to expire September 30th.