Gage County Extends Moratorium on Solar Energy Permits

By Gordon HopkinsThe Gage County Board voted 6-1 to extend an existing moratorium on commercial solar energy permits to give Planning and Zoning more time to establish new regulations.The wording of the moratorium is, in part, “BE IT RESOLVED, by the County Board of Gage County, Nebraska, that a moratorium on accepting any commercial solar energy farm applications is hereby invoked and approved and shall be in place until such time that the Planning & Zoning Commission has had time to conduct public meetings, including but not limited to public hearings, in direct regards to current and potential changes to regulations pertaining to commercial solar energy farms; and to further allow time for any potential changes to be passed on to the Gage County Board of Supervisors for review, approval, or disapproval with the same previously mentioned considerations as allowed for the Planning and Zoning commission.”The moratorium does not have an expiration date. FJN reached out to board member Emily Haxby, who said, “This is just to allow the county planning and zoning and our board the time to get regulations in place before permits are taken. Currently, we have none. When the regulations are voted on and in place, this moratorium would automatically expire which we are hoping to have done by the end of the year but sometimes discussions and life happens.”Haxby said she did not know of any proposed solar projects that could be impacted by this decision, “I am not aware of any potential projects in our county zoning, but as most commercial projects like this, there usually isn't much public notification as to the plan/size/build until the permit.”Board member Don Schuller told FJN, “There are no permits being sought or held up at this time. P & Z administrator Lisa Wiegand is confident it will be finalized before the end of the year but she said things can always change so there are no guarantees.”When asked if he knew of any specific concerns residents might have regarding solar energy farms, Schuller responded, “I have been able to go to one P & Z meeting where solar energy was discussed. There was no meeting in May. Things discussed were set backs, vegetative barriers, noise, believe it or not some of the equipment buzz, so I have been told, vegetation in and around the solar panels, the height of the structures and so on.”

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