Council Debating Impact of 'Solar Farms'

At Tuesday night's meeting of the Howell Township Council, one ordinance regarding the use of solar energy generating facilities was voted down, while a new one was introduced with improvements from the original.

The solar ordinance was the second that has been in front of the council in recent months as the township looks to establish where possible solar facilities can be built while not having a major impact, especially aesthetically, on residents. 

The new ordinance allows the facilities, also known as "solar farms," to be built in SED zones but has still raised some questions among members of the council. However, it was largely agreed to be more along the lines of what they were looking for. 

One of the biggest questions the council has when it comes to the solar facilities is not whether they should be constructed, but rather their impact on residents.

This is addressed in several ways. The ordinance states that the facilities should be built in a way that limits its visibility. This can be done by using buildings, trees and other natural items around its borders.

Councilwoman Pauline Smith also raised the question of the minimum property size that the facilities can be built on. According to the latest ordinance, 65 acres is the minimum, but Smith said she would like to see that number increased to at least 80. While Township Attorney McKenna Kingdon said the property size was determined by using an equation that would help align the township with state regulations, Smith said she would like to see more room between the solar panels and places people would be close to them. 

One of the problems the council has with setting regulations for the solar farms is that directives from the state are still changing as the technology continues to develop. Smith said in light of that she would like to see the township do as much as it can to prepare itself for future applications that may be coming down the road.

"The old one couldn't be complete enough because of all the standards coming down and the changes made from the state," she said. 

Deputy Mayor William Gotto, who ran the meeting in place of Mayor Robert Walsh, said it was important to him that the ordinance be in place in order to protect the township.

"The solar ordinance is moving forward to provide us protection to make sure that we don't have them popping up wherever," he said. 

Gotto said in addition to people with experience in the solar farm field being used as resources in helping to craft the ordinance, other groups, including the Howell Fire Bureau gave their input to this latest version in order to make it as effective as possible.

"That's why we cancelled one and introduced another," he said. 

A public hearing on the ordinance has been set for the May 24th meeting and Smith said she will continue to work to see if the minimum property size can be changed before that.

"I'm going to do some research and see if I can," she said. "I don't know what I'm going to do but I'm not happy with the 65 acres." 

The deputy mayor said that while he was comfortable with the 65 acre limit, he was not opposed to expanding it if there is evidence to support such a change.

"I hope they do come up with some documentation of what that number should be," he said. "I don't know what that number is today."