Floyd Co. Supervisors Solar Development Moratorium Could Be Approved Monday (01.27)

Floyd County Supervisors are likely to enact a moratorium on commercial solar energy systems in the county. But it’s not in place just yet.

During their regular board meeting last Tuesday (01.21), Supervisors again discussed a moratorium on commercial solar development until the County can revise its ordinance regulating their construction. Supervisor Gloria Carr noted that the County, in fact, doesn’t have any solar regulations in place. 

Thus, she sought advice from John Robbins with NIACOG, who assisted the County’s Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission with reworking the County’s ordinance regarding wind farm development.

In 2023, Supervisors placed a moratorium on accepting any permits or applications for the development of wind farms in the County in order to buy time to review and rework the County’s wind and battery storage ordinance. In that process, several proposed amendments by then-Supervisor Jim Jorgensen would have made wind farm development almost impossible in the county.

That led to several delays in passage of the ordinance, which is still in limbo while a mediation committee works to find a middle ground. Supervisor Boyd Campbell is part of that work group and hopes the County can learn from that experience when addressing solar development.

Supervisors took no action on a solar moratorium, with Board Chair Dennis Keifer to revisit wording of a resolution with County Attorney Todd Prichard. The resolution is back on the agenda for Monday’s (01.27) Supervisors meeting

The moratorium on any new wind farm applications or permits remains in place until March 17th and Supervisors have set a deadline of no later than March 3rd for the third reading of the wind and battery storage ordinance.