By: DALE HOGG
Kansas Reflector
BARTON COUNTY — There was a collective sigh of relief from members of the Barton County Planning Commission following a lengthy morning meeting March 14.
They had just approved the final draft of new zoning regulations and a revised zoning map governing the development of large-scale and commercial solar energy conversion systems, rules that were OK’d Friday by the Barton County Commission during a special meeting. These actions capped an arduous 10 months of meetings, hearings and heartfelt testimony as county residents came to grips with the idea of having a solar installation in their backyards.
In the works for years, Chicago-based Acciona Energy USA hopes to soon finalize and build what has become a hot-button multimillion-dollar commercial solar farm in northcentral Barton County. The project has pitted concerned opponents fearful of its proximity to Cheyenne Bottoms — the internationally recognized and largest wetland in the interior U.S. — against landowners who feel their land-use rights are threatened.
“This has been a heated, controversial and emotional issue,” said county environmental manager Judy Goreham, who oversees the planning commission.
The planning commission, a volunteer body, is charged with reviewing and recommending the zoning regulations that will ultimately impact Acciona’s endeavor. Members have spent a year drafting zoning guidelines for commercial solar, something not already on the county’s books.
“I’m glad to have that behind us,” said Russell Carson, a planning commission member.
While the draft received unanimous approval, it was the product of intense discussion and compromise as commissioners weighed the pros and cons of the project.
Goreham walked the commission through the revised guidelines page by page. The draft integrated the comments gleaned from the myriad public hearings and more than 600 edits submitted by Acciona.
The planning commission also considered several zoning map alternatives, factoring in the Cheyenne Bottoms and the Wetlands and Wildlife National Scenic Byway that cuts through the region. The approved rules allow for a two-mile no-build zone around the wetland and the existing one-mile no-build zone along the byway.
This meant the draft was then subject to a 14-day public protest period. If no opposition were filed, the draft could go before the Barton County Commission.
And this created a problem.
Last May, the county commission approved a moratorium on all commercial-scale solar projects in the county to give the zoning group time to come up with the rules. That was set to expire Sunday, before the county commission was scheduled to meet again.
But commissioners set a special meeting for Friday, adopted the zoning changes and allowed the moratorium to expire.
Neighbors and friends
Friday’s meeting was packed and included more emotional comments from those on both sides of the issue. But in the end, county commissioners gave the nod to large-scale solar installations while noting the toll the debate took on their constituents.
“This is pitting neighbors against neighbors. We have to end this divide,” said Commissioner Tricia Schlessiger. “Let us remember that we are all neighbors and friends.”
There were compromises made by both sides, she said, and now is the time to come back together.
There are more decisions to make.
“It’s frustrating,” Goreham said. “This is for all solar projects. This is not just for Acciona. All we are doing now is writing the rules,” something a lot of those close to the matter don’t understand.
“Everyone is so engaged in this,” she said. It has become a highly emotional issue, and that has clouded much of the public discourse.
Acciona, she said, still has to file its application. At that point, the rules will come into play and the county commission will have the final say after public notices, a public hearing and protest period.
Getting here
The planning commission, which operates independently of the county commission, began work in early 2023 to stitch together existing rules developed for wind turbines in 2008 with solar regulations from other counties and cities.
“I mashed them all together and we went through line by line,” Goreham said.
Meanwhile, the county commission placed a moratorium on solar development.
Planning commissioners gathered input from the public, businesses, state agencies and conversation groups, including considerations for Cheyenne Bottoms.
A draft emerged by summer 2023 after meetings were held with Acciona, utility companies, state agencies and conservation groups. By December 2023, the first version of the guidelines was ready.
Two of the public hearings attracted large crowds, the first of which devolved into a raucous gathering filled with opponents voicing emotional opposition and conspiracy theories.
But “there was some constructive feedback,” Gorehan said.
About the project
With the advances in technology and the growth of renewable energy, counties across the state are scrambling to develop guidelines.
The plan in Barton County is for a 300-megawatt facility made up of two 150-MW installations, said Josh Svaty, a former state agriculture secretary and attorney working for Acciona who attended the March 14 meeting. There will also be two storage battery sites.
“We appreciate the work that planning and zoning and the county commission has done,” Svaty said. “We look forward to the end of the moratorium and potentially the opportunity to put in an application.”
Acciona, a subsidiary of Madrid, Spain-based Acciona Group, has leased several thousand acres with option to build. But the final installation will cover about 2,100 acres, Svaty said.
The final footprint of the solar arrays will be based on the zoning map requirements, he said.
They will have to “stitch together” locations to accommodate the needed acreage, but hope to keep them as contiguous as possible for efficiency.
The company plans on tapping into an existing substation at the northeast corner of Great Bend and a new one to be constructed further north and east. There is also a transmission line that crosses this area.
Beyond that, “it’s difficult to have a specific conversation on the project,” Svaty said.
There are still several steps to take, such as an environment impact study, before Acciona can file its application, he said. This will outline more details as to the scope and financial/economic impact of the effort.
Company officials have mentioned a workforce of around 300 in the area during the construction and around 30 long-term for project operation and maintenance. A $1.6 million figure in tax revenue for the county also has been discussed.
Once ground is broken, Svaty said, construction will take between 18 months and two years.
Acciona will receive a federally mandated 10-year property tax abatement starting when the project goes online. But, Svaty said, the company will have a donation agreement with the county in lieu of paying the taxes, the amount of which will be negotiated during the application process.
Svaty said the user of the generated electricity will depend on who purchases it. Some of the power may wind up being used by Barton County consumers.
It will be entirely outside Great Bend city limits, but portions of the proposed development area fall within the city’s three-mile extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction. City officials have started discussions on zoning requirements but were waiting on the county so that both sets of regulations would align.
Cheyenne Bottoms
There isn’t much data available on how solar farms impact migrating wildlife, said Jerry Nye of Ducks Unlimited, a conservation group.
“My major objection is the location,” Nye said. “If they just moved this thing five miles in one direction or another, we wouldn’t be having all this discussion.”
He said birds fly low to the ground, particularly when headed into the wind, creating the chance for collisions with the panels. And there is a “lake affect,” where birds mistake the gleaming solar panels as a body of water, he said.
Cheyenne Bottoms is recognized as a wetland of international importance through the Ramsar Convention. It is an important stop along the Central Flyway, an aerial highway used by birds — some endangered, such as the whooping crane — migrating back and forth between Canada and South America.
Opponents fear this will negatively impact this migratory process.
There are also worries of possible toxic contamination from the materials in the panels if they are damaged
Other concerns include the chance of fires from the storage battery sites, negative effects of solar installations on property taxes, and the involvement of an international corporation.
“They will never understand nor respect the significance of Cheyenne Bottoms to Barton County and the world,” said outdoor enthusiast Dan Witt. “It could never be replaced and to put it at any risk for any amount of money to anyone is not logical or even imaginable.”
He has presented the county commission with a petition with more than 1,400 signatures opposing the plan.
The bottoms complex occupies approximately 41,000 acres in Barton County and is the largest wetland in the interior U.S. The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks manages about 20,000 of those acres, and the Nature Conservancy owns and manages nearly 8,000 acres in the Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve.
Landowner rights
Chris Clasen, who has leased land to Acciona, said she has “kind of been the squeaky wheel for our lands rights.”
“I feel we do have the right to lease our land for this,” Clasen said.
She said she understands the concerns, but “there are no indications that birds will land on these.”
The panels don’t lie flat and are designed to absorb light, not reflect it.
Besides, she argued, the existing highways and power transmission lines likely kill more birds than any solar installation would.
Furthermore, thousands of hunters visit the bottoms each year and kill thousands of birds, she said.
“That is kind of hypocritical. I could have leased my land for hunting and no one would have a problem with it,” Clasen said.
“We have built towns out there,” she added. “We have built housing developments out there. And we’ve even built a dump (the Barton County Landfill) out there. The birds still migrate.”
She said there are already oil wells and private solar panels in the area. It was even used as a practice bombing range for B-29 bomber crews during World War II.
She said she is a sixth-generation farmer, and the homestead dates to 1871, when settlers were considered pioneers.
“Renewable energy is coming,” she said. “We are on the cusp of being pioneers for this now.”
Steve Neeland, of Great Bend, owns land within the two-mile no-build zone with his siblings.
He said he understands the concerns over wildlife. But, he said, they have always practiced responsible stewardship of the land and feel they should be allowed to utilize their property as they see fit.
“I think we need to use some good common sense,” Neeland said.