Dakota Locker and Travis Weik, Courier-Times
The Henry County Commissioners put the final nail in the coffin of a local solar ordinance Thursday.
With a 3-0 vote, the commissioners confirmed their rejection of the proposed solar ordinance created by the Henry County Planning Commission.
This is the second “No” vote from the Henry County commissioners regarding the proposed ordinance. According to Indiana Code 36-7-4-607, the ordinance has been defeated.
“This means that the rejection of the solar ordinance and solar moratorium that was passed in December remains in place,” said Commissioner Bobbi Plummer. “The three commissioners are independently working on changes to the solar ordinance.”
The first vote against the ordinance came Dec. 16. In that same meeting, the Henry County Commissioners voted to ban commercial solar energy systems from all zoning districts in the county.
As The Courier-Times has previously report, Commissioner Ed Tarantino has said the intent is to lift the solar moratorium after Henry County has a solar ordinance in place.
The county commissioners also spent several minutes of Thursday’s meeting discussing the proposed state law, House Bill 1381, which would take away county authority to make local decisions about industrial solar and wind projects.
Commissioner Plummer testified in the Indiana Statehouse in February against HB 1381, arguing the necessity of county commissioners to be able to enforce local regulations instead of the Indiana Legislature.
HB 1381 was referred to the Indiana Senate on Feb. 18.