County Commissioners approve ordinances restricting solar farms and prohibiting carbon capture

During Monday's meeting, the County Commissioners gave final approval to two significant ordinances: one restricting the size of solar-field projects and another officially cleaning up language to permanently prohibit carbon capture within the county.

Both measures were approved on their second and third readings.

County Attorney Sean Surrisi explained that the new Farm Scale Solar Ordinance strictly prohibits the development of large-scale solar panel farms spanning multiple properties and acres across any zoning district. However, the ordinance includes provisions for private use, allowing citizens or businesses to install up to five acres of solar panels on a single parcel of property.

With no public comments presented, the commissioners voted 2-0 to pass the Farm Scale Solar Energy System ordinance. Commissioner Bohannon was absent from the meeting.

The commissioners also approved an ordinance regarding carbon capture. According to Surrisi, this action served as a necessary "cleanup" of an ordinance initially passed last fall that prohibited carbon capture projects in the county.

At the beginning of 2025, the commissioners enacted a two-year moratorium on carbon capture. When the outright prohibition was passed later in the fall, the original moratorium language was inadvertently left in the county code. The newly approved ordinance removes the outdated moratorium language, solidifying the permanent prohibition.

Previously, the county commissioners passed ordinances to increase setbacks for Battery Energy Storage Systems to 1,320 feet. They also enacted an ordinance prohibiting data centers in the county.