Maryland county exec discusses measure to restrict community solar
The Carroll County Board of Commissioners has unanimously approved a measure that would restrict community solar development on agricultural land.
Carroll County is made up of eight municipalities: Hampstead, Manchester, Mount Airy, New Windsor, Sykesville, Taneytown, Union Bridge, and Westminster.
The news comes shortly after the state made their community solar program permanent in May. Maryland law currently caps community solar facilities at 5 MW.
“We’re not anti-solar,” said Kenneth Kiler, Carroll County Commissioner Vice President, in an interview with NPM. “We didn’t like this ordinance and the locations it put it in. There’s a lot of solar in Carroll County and I hope it continues to grow.”
The county will continue to permit community solar projects on municipal buildings, airport, schools, parking lots, industrial and commercial areas.
The commissioners approved the controversial measure on July 13 following a public hearing. The ruling takes effect on July 23.
In 2021, the board adopted the ordinance for Solar Energy Generating Systems, which was designed to provide safe and effective solar energy systems that protects the rights, health, safety, and welfare of adjoining land uses and landowners through appropriate zoning and land use controls.
Within a year, the county began receiving development proposals. About seven projects were submitted for the review process, however none of them made it past to the Planning Commission, according to town officials.
In March 2023, some commissioners raised concerns related to the installation of solar facilities on agricultural properties. The county subsequently held a public hearing to adopt a six-month moratorium to allow additional time to study the issue.
A working group assembled was comprised of various individuals in the county that were both for and against community solar development on agricultural land. The group had two main focuses: is community solar appropriate for agriculture land? If it is appropriate, what rules should be adopted?
The majority of the group favored the removal of the ordinance. The Planning and Zoning Commission concurred and approved the recommendation.
There was mixed feedback during the public hearing. Several residents spoke in support of the decision to protect farmland--others strongly disagreed.
Patricia Toth, a landowner who submitted development plans with Chaberton for Solar Sunshine Community Solar, and a member of the work group, described their meetings as “contentious.”
“I believe there is room for compromise,” Toth said. “I believe that you would be able to take the current text amendment and satisfy the landowners, the project developers, and the neighbors to these existing projects,” Toth said. “However, my take is that many of you commissioners dismissed our efforts and recommendations with little consideration.”
“Simply wiping the community solar text amendment from the zoning code does not serve the long-term needs of the people of Carroll County or address the renewable requirements from the state of Maryland—which Carroll County will have to face in the future,” added Toth.
Lightstar Renewables Policy and Strategy Manager, Kelly Buchanan also spoke against the measure.
“I think it's important for the commissioners here today to see that the development pressure in Carroll County is certainly a problem and I think agrivoltaics can be part of the solution in that struggle,” Buchanan said.
“What is going to be done in the future to support landowners like our five generations farming family who would like to continue to live, work and own a farm in Carroll County that doesn't fall to ruin like so many you see around the county map,” one resident said.
*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers last month.
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