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BRAINERD — Crow Wing County commissioners questioned if a moratorium would be needed after learning there as interest from someone who wanted to do a solar farm in the county.
During the board’s Committee of the Whole meeting in December, commissioners were told the county doesn’t have anything in its ordinance that deals with how a solar farm or a wind farm would be handled.
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Chris Pence, environmental services manager, said he’s been doing research already and talking to other counties who have ordinances in place to see if they have a model the county could use.
Pence said there is a section on personal use but not for a farm setting.
“I have spoke with the applicant who’s interested in doing it, and depending on their timing and how long it takes to get this done, if they were to come in and maybe give us an application today, I would probably come back to you and say we might need a to put a moratorium in place until we get that ordinance up and running,” Pence said.
When asked if the county should consider a moratorium at this point, Pence said he believed there was time to get the ordinance going in the first quarter of 2026.
“I think that would fit their timeline,” Pence said.
County Administrator Deborah Erickson said, from a process standpoint, they wouldn’t put a moratorium in place on something when they don’t have an applicant or a reason to do so.
“So as long as Chris has had the communication with the applicant, kind of knowing what his timeline is, knowing that we do need to include something in our ordinance, that we will need to work through that amendment process, he’s already working on what needs to occur for that,” Erickson said. “So I think we can avoid the moratorium part by being proactive in getting the amendments done as quickly as we can.”
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Commissioner Paul Koering asked if they don’t have something in the ordinance, would that mean the applicant couldn’t do it.
Pence said there are two ways to look at it. They could argue it’s not in the ordinances so it’s a prohibited use but at the same time they are not allowed to prohibit any use in the county.
Pence said he thinks the county would be susceptible to a lawsuit and be at risk of them getting a judgment to locate that solar farm where they want to without oversight in the county. Pence compared it to adult uses which the county can’t outright ban but can determine the most appropriate spot for that to be located.
“And without having that in the ordinance, it would be very susceptible to a lawsuit if we just said, if somebody made an application we denied it, we would get sued on that, and we would, I don’t think we prevail on that,” Pence said.
Koering said if there was an ordinance and a moratorium it would mean the county wouldn’t accept any applications for solar farms. Pence agreed, saying it would be the equivalent of a time out to get the ordinance updated and regulations in place.
Koering said looking forward, a solar farm isn’t something he didn’t know he would support.
“I just don’t like solar farms,” Koering said, adding he thinks it ruins the landscape. He pointed to the moratorium the county had years ago on billboard signs. “I feel like it’s kind of the same thing. It just kind of ruins the aesthetics of Crow Wing County that people expect when you’re coming up here and vacationing.
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“You go by some of these solar places, the solar farm, they’re gobbling up this beautiful farmland, and they’re just, they’re not as efficient as you might think they would be so I think as of right now, unless somebody can convince me otherwise, I’m not going to support solar farms or an ordinance going along with that. Period,” Koering added.
Board Chair Steve Barrows said there was also an issue of how they are taxed. Other central Minnesota counties are dealing with that issue and he thinks the Association of Minnesota Counties will address that issue at the upcoming legislative session.
Commissioner Jon Lubke then wondered if the county should consider the moratorium so they aren’t behind the eight ball and would have time to do the homework. Erickson replied with staff already working on it before there is an application in, putting a moratorium in at this point wouldn’t have a real impact other than to say no applications would be considered.
“But staff are already working on what those regulations might need to be in that regard, if we were to get an application that came in today, tomorrow, next week, whatever it might be, you could take the action at that time to put moratorium in place, but to put the moratorium in place, then put the amendments in, then take the moratorium off, there’s just a snowball that kind of goes into play here,” Erickson said. “I think the fact that we have the heads up, or that we have the alert that this is going to be moving forward, that staff is working on what that ordinance, what those amendments, should look like, or potentially could look like, I think puts you in the right position without having to take any action at this time.”
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