By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Barton County continues to examine the implications of a commercial solar farm within its boundaries. Wednesday morning, the county commission voted 4-1 to implement a moratorium on any specific applications. Zoning Administrator Judy Goreham and six of the county's nine planning commission members visited with the board of commissioners during a study session last Wednesday. Goreham said the moratorium will allow time for extensive study.
"Doing a moratorium would be the cleanest way to allow the planning commission the time necessary to study how a solar farm would affect anywhere in Barton County, what impacts it would have," she said. "That is my recommendation this morning, is to consider a moratorium on any commercial solar development in the county. Really, it would be until the planning commission is done with their process."
The moratorium will remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2023, or until the board of commissioners votes to lift the resolution. Commissioner Tricia Schlessiger pressed Goreham if the moratorium was necessary, or if the planning commission could simply delay a vote on an application. County Counselor Patrick Hoffman provided the answer.
"The theory behind a moratorium is just to press the pause button, allow them to do a thorough review of the current policy," he said. "Maybe the result of that will be they think the current zoning is good and they'll ask you guys to just keep it. Maybe they'll find some changes they'd like to propose to you guys. It just gives everyone some breathing space so they're not reviewing a specific project in the time they're reviewing the county-wide rules."
By statute, the planning commission has 60 days within receiving an application to hold a public hearing. Goreham said the body could delay a vote at that time. Hoffman advised not delaying a vote indefinitely, and said a moratorium is a safer option going forward.
"The advantage of a moratorium is to get the rules right, feel good about them, then going forward, once when we get applications, we know exactly how they'll be processed and everyone knows exactly what the zoning rules are for Barton County."
Hoffman said Barton County does have current zoning policies in place regarding solar farms but they were last amended in 2013. Many changes have taken place in the industry since then, and several other counties are examining their zoning regulations to reflect those changes.
The board of commissioners voted 4-1 to approve the moratorium with Schlessiger as the vote against. The planning commission will further discuss solar farms at Thursday's meeting, which is open to the public at 9 a.m. Thursday morning in the conference room inside the Barton County Courthouse.