Photo provided A pollinator-friendly solar installation at the University of Dayton is similar to what developers say is planned at the proposed Swallowtail Solar Farm in northeast Bartholomew County.
Columbus City Council will soon have its first vote on a number of changes to the city’s zoning ordinance, including new regulations around solar farms.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers of Columbus City Hall. A livestream is available at columbus.in.gov/video/live-streaming/. In addition to having a first reading on the zoning ordinance changes — two readings are required for approval — the council will also have its final vote on the city’s 2024 budget.
The Columbus Plan Commission voted 7-2 in September to send the zoning ordinance amendments forward to city council, with members Dennis Baute and Barry Kastner stating that they felt the commercial solar regulations were too restrictive.
The proposed amendments outline regulations for three types of solar systems: on-site use systems, neighborhood-scale systems and commercial solar energy systems (CSES).
A CSES is defined as “a system that captures and converts solar energy into electricity for the primary purpose of wholesale sales of generated electricity and for use in locations other than where it is generated. … It also includes facilities from which solar energy is made available to individual off-site residential, commercial, industrial, or other end users through a subscription or sponsorship system.”
The city plan commission’s proposed regulations for these facilities general mirror the ordinance for Bartholomew County.
However, while the county regulations state that solar fields must be at least a half-mile away from municipal boundary lines, the proposed city rules state that solar fields cannot be located in areas that lie within the city’s planning jurisdiction but are outside of city limits, according to city/county planning director Jeff Bergman.
Indiana law allows city and town plan commissions throughout the state to establish an expanded planning jurisdiction, provided it extends no farther than two miles from each incorporated city or town boundary.
Under the city’s proposal, exceptions to the setback standards for commercial solar are allowed with a waiver from the affected entities. In the case of developments that potentially encroach on the setbacks from non-participating properties and dwellings, the affected property owners would need to agree to a waiver.
For proposed development that falls within Columbus’s two-mile jurisdiction, the developer would need a waiver from city council, Bergman said in a previous interview.
“While it is unconventional for a zoning ordinance to provide this power to city council; in this case, the plan commission felt the issue of commercial-scale solar and its proximity to the city was more than a land use issue and beyond the typical scope of the Board of Zoning Appeals and its narrowly-defined powers,” he wrote in a memo to council. “For example, these facilities also potentially speak to the city’s overall approach to climate change and the energy priorities of local companies.”
He added that, based on further review of this approach by the planning department and legal counsel, a revision of the plan commission-approved text is recommended “to make the City Council setback waiver option more legally defensible.”
Under the proposed zoning ordinance amendments, CSES would be a conditional use in the Agriculture: General Rural zoning district. These facilities are already a conditional use in the Agriculture: Preferred district.
CSES would continue to be prohibited in all other zoning districts, Bergman said.
Any instance of a conditional use must be authorized by either the Columbus Board of Zoning Appeals or the BZA hearing officer. The board of zoning appeals makes its decision based on specific criteria and has the option to place conditions or commitments on applications that it chooses to approve.
In addition to the changes around solar energy, other proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance touch on topics such as manufactured housing, accessory dwellings and electrical vehicle charging stations.
The proposed section on EV charging states, “Electric vehicle charging spaces shall be required in association with newly constructed or expanded multifamily residential uses, hotels, and parking lots / garages (where that lot or garage is a primary use), that provide 25 or more parking spaces, at a minimum ratio of 1 charging space for every 50 total parking spaces provided, rounded up to the nearest whole charging space.”
Where to learn more
A copy of the materials for Tuesday’s council meeting, including the proposed zoning ordinance amendments, is available at columbus.in.gov/clerk-treasurer/city-council-agendas/.
