Licking County bans large solar farms from Etna Township; other townships could be next

Etna Township has welcomed numerous housing developments and warehouses in recent years. But there is one industry that won't find a home in the Licking County township: large-scale solar farms.

Utility-scale solar farms, which are defined as producing 50 megawatts or more, are now prohibited in Etna Township after the Licking County Commissioners approved an exclusionary zone Thursday for the entire township. The commissioners held a hearing about the request last month.

In January, the Etna trustees requested the commissioners bar utility-scale solar farms within the township. The commissioners have the authority to declare a township, or even the entire county, an exclusionary zone for large solar fields. Smaller solar fields are subject to local zoning. Etna has already prohibited community-scale solar farms, between 5-50 megawatts, when it updated its zoning code in December.

Before voting, Commissioners Tim Bubb, Rick Black and Duane Flowers shared numerous reasons why solar farms aren't a fit in Etna, with the roughly 15 people in attendance.

Etna Township has already developed so much over the past decade because of its location along Interstate 70, and Bubb said within the next few decades, Etna will become a suburban township as more homes and businesses are built there.

"It's going to look a lot like a Columbus suburb, I think. We're already seeing that with the growth of residential, with the growth of schools in the area, with commercial," he said. "I think Etna Township is feeling the development pressure probably unlike any other township in the county. My personal opinion is at this point, an industrial solar or a massive solar project just doesn't have a place in Etna Township."

Bubb also said he's concerned that the U.S. is becoming too reliant on intermittent power sources, like solar and wind energy. He said there are too many variables when it comes to solar, such as cloudy days and damage from hail storms or tornadoes, for solar to be considered a reliable energy source.

"Our need for electricity — just here in Licking County, if you look at the development here — is 24/7/365," Bubb said. "We need reliable power, whether it's a combination of natural gas, coal, nuclear, whatever the sources are. I think as a country, we can't sell ourselves short in terms of too much over reliance on intermittent power."

Flowers said to him, the matter is similar to zoning. Townships have a right to to zone areas to allow or prohibit certain uses, and the Etna Township Trustees are doing that through the request to prohibit solar farms.

"I believe there's places … within the state of Ohio where solar can be built without causing any damage to folks property rights living next door," he said.

This is the second solar exclusionary zone the commissioners have approved in recent months. Last year Liberty Township asked for a ban, and the commissioners approved its request in November.

St. Albans and Licking townships have also requested to become exclusionary zones. Bubb said Thursday the commissioners sent letters to the remaining Licking County townships to gauge their interest on solar exclusionary zones for their townships as well as explain the process. With 25 township's in the county, Bubb said the commissioners don't want to handle these requests one by one.

"If there's several other areas that are interested, we're willing to consider that and do the public hearings and have that deliberation," Bubb said.

Two solar farms — one in Harrison Township and another in Hartford and Bennington townships — have been approved for Licking County, but neither project has started construction.

Bubb said the projects were approved by the Ohio Power Siting Board, which is responsible for approving new sources of power in the state, before counties had the authority to create exclusionary zones.

The commissioners said they are not aware of any other pending solar projects in Licking County.

Statewide, about 50 such projects are in development or have recently been completed, including a Madison County project covering 6,050 acres that the state approved March 21.

mdevito@gannett.com

740-607-2175

Twitter: @MariaDeVito13

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Licking County bans large solar farms from Etna Township