Polk Township banned solar farms in half of the township, but some residents say supervisors haven’t done enough to protect agricultural land. Township officials disagree and point out the ordinance could impact a multi-municipal partnership in Monroe County.
Residents fought supervisors to tighten the township’s zoning ordinance after Samsung and its satellite company, Effort Solar, tried to get approval for a 472-acre solar project. The farm would have bordered several homes. That plan was denied two months ago.
Some residents, like Michael McMurtry, said it would have ruined his quality of life.
“It did not meet the character of our neighborhoods and didn’t belong here,” McMurtry said on June 27.
The township’s zoning amendment, adopted on Aug. 26, bans developers from building commercial solar farms near homes in moderate-density areas. It also adds restrictions to solar farm construction in the township’s low-density rural residential district (RR District), according to Township Solicitor James Fareri.
Polk Vice-Chair Michael Hurley said the amendment is in direct response to Samsung’s solar attempt.
“If nobody was coming, we would’ve probably never thought about it, if there was no solar coming. Because people wouldn’t have thought about it being next to their house,” said Hurley. “But the fact that they were actively trying to put in industrial solar farm, that’s what prompted us.”
But some residents at Monday's hearing said the changes were not strict enough. Ann Gravell, a Polk resident, criticized the board for not adopting all of residents’ demands.
“Government runs from ‘We the People’ up to you,” said Gravell. “Look at us here, we do not want it in RR at all…You sit here and tell us, ‘well, we can’t tell a landowner what to do.’ But yet, you turn around and tell us how far back you can put a fence, where we can put a pool, what we can do with our property when and where. So, you can take it out of RR all together.”
She also attacked solar as an unstable energy source.
“People are so worried about solar,” said Gravell. “First of all, it’s horrible for the environment. And they’re looking for the warehouses. Y’know what? Stick it on top of the roof of the warehouses. Let them worry about their own electricity…these are farmlands. Once these are destroyed, we cannot get it back.”
Township leadership said the amendment is not their final step in addressing commercial solar. Fareri called it a “stop gap” and “temporary measure.” He told residents that the board plans to review and potentially rework Polk’s amended zoning ordinance with the help of a regional consultant. Hurley added that the ordinance could get stricter with further review.
“We’re working on it. So, it’s a work in progress…this was the first thing to get it out of the R2, because that’s where all the residents were impacted. So now, we’re going to be looking at the RR and see what we’re going to do there,” said Hurley.
But Polk and the consultant’s review could have a countywide impact.
The consultant is part of CJERP, a multi-municipal partnership between five Monroe County townships: Chestnuthill, Jackson, Eldred, Ross and Polk. The partnership helps the townships establish rules and organize resources.
Hurley explained that each township’s rules affect the other four townships.
“If one of the townships say ‘we welcome solar,’ then we wouldn’t have to have it anywhere because there would be an area in the region they could go to. But with nobody, if that doesn’t happen, then each township has to have a…location for solar,” said Hurley.
Regardless of the consultant’s review, Hurley said Polk will allow some commercial solar development in low-density residential areas because the township has 26 acres of commercially zoned land and most of it is in use.
Polk Township’s next regular supervisors meeting is on Sept. 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the township municipal building.
