In the first real test of the new Putnam County unified development ordinance, the Area Plan Commission has turned down a rezone request to allow a solar farm to be located on agricultural land in Russell Township.
However, the 6-3 decision to recommend denial of the Cold Spring Solar Farm is only advisory and will go before the Putnam County Commissioners on Monday morning at 9 a.m. at the Putnam County Courthouse.
At the conclusion of the two-hour meeting Thursday, county councilman and APC member Jay Alcorn made the motion to deny the request to rezone 1,200 acres from A1 (agricultural preservation) to natural resources, which would allow for a solar farm to be placed on the land. The motion was seconded by Clint Cooper.
In a roll call vote, Alcorn, Cooper, Ken Heeke, Jenna Nees, Tony Riggen and Kevin Scobee all voted to deny. County Commissioner Rick Woodall, County Surveyor Greg Williams and Randy Bee all voted against the motion to deny.
APC member Chris Mann was not in attendance, but had already expressed his intent to abstain from any vote due to a conflict of interest.
Prior to making the motion, Alcorn shared his reasoning. He noted that he was one of two county councilmen who voted in late 2022 against granting tax abatement to the Cold Spring project, should it come to fruition.
“My reason being that solar has a place,” Alcorn said, “but I don’t think offering a tax abatement in competition with agriculture was appropriate.”
Alcorn also offered that he believes there are better ways to take the long view and place solar panels in places that are not productive farm ground.
“I don’t have anything against your company or solar in general, but I will not support this rezone,” Alcorn said.
With a number of audience members already having expressed skepticism — some boarding on conspiracy theories — about the process, Scobee gave a reminder prior to the vote.
“This is only a recommendation,” he said.
While how the commissioners might vote come Monday morning remains open to questions, Woodall will be one of the three votes on that board, and he dissented from the APC decision. Additionally, the commissioners have worked with Arevon, the company trying to start the solar farm, throughout the process, reaching agreement on matters such as road use, decommissioning and an approximately $6 million economic development agreement.
One conspiracy expressed by at least one speaker on Thursday was that the county had changed the rules for such matters in order to allow this project to pass.
Under the county zoning ordinance, drafted in 1992, such matters had to go before the Board of Zoning Appeals, not for rezone but for a special exception. The BZA had already denied a special exception back in September 2023, before the new UDO took effect in January.
With the new rules in place, Arevon simply applied for a rezone instead.
County Attorney Jim Ensley did what he could to quash any grumblings about this.
“We have been working on the zoning rules for eight years. The timing of it had nothing to do with this project,” Ensley said. “I don’t want there to be implications of non-transparency.”
County Building and Planning Director Lisa Zeiner took it a step further, noting that all county residents had ample opportunities to be part of the process of drafting a new comprehensive plan and UDO.
“There were several, several public meetings regarding the UDO,” Zeiner said.
Prior to the decision, the comments were similar to those that have been debated before the council, commissioners and BZA at prior meetings.
Arevon representatives outlined the project, which is a 200 megawatt solar farm, which they estimated will be enough to power 30,000 homes.
The land itself will not be owned by the power company, but will be leased for at least 30 years, renewable up to 50 years, with banks of solar panels placed on the land.
Project manager Paul Cousins noted the financial impact while also saying that impacts on sound, heat, telecommunications, aviation and wildlife would be minimal.
Public comment came in on both sides of the debate, with supporters noting landowners’ rights, economic impact and the importance of clean energy.
However, those in opposition mainly centered their arguments on preserving agricultural heritage as well as the farmland itself.
In the end, the will of the commission was to deny.
However, the final decision lies with commissioners Woodall, Tom Helmer and David Berry, who represents the district in question.
While the Area Plan Commission is temporarily a 10-member board, it will soon be growing. Previously the “County Plan Commission,” it contained all members noted above except for Riggen, who is a member of the Russellville Town Council.
When Russellville opted to take part in the UDO, it also chose to turn all its BZA and plan commission matters over to the county. In doing so, the town was given one appointment to the APC, with fellow town council members choosing Riggen.
Having also opted into the UDO, Cloverdale and Roachdale will also have appointments to the APC, though these have not yet been made.
Bainbridge, on the other hand, also opted into the UDO but plans to retain its own BZA and plan commission.
Once the other two towns have made their appointments to the APC, the county will make one more appointment simply to bring the number of board members to 13 – an odd number, which is important to avoid voting ties.
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