Solar panels and a substation are pictured at the Goose Prairie solar power project site during construction Thursday, May 9, 2024, near Moxee, Wash. The project went through a state approval process.
Staff writer
Solar panels and a substation are pictured at the Goose Prairie solar power project site during construction Thursday, May 9, 2024, near Moxee, Wash. The project went through a state approval process.
Yakima County commissioners are inching closer to a decision on an ordinance that would allow solar facilities on some farmland in unincorporated Yakima County.
In 2022, the Board of Yakima County Commissioners enacted a moratorium on solar development in unincorporated Yakima County to give the planning department time to establish development regulations for those facilities. The moratorium has been extended multiple times and is still in place today.
In Washington, solar developers can use the county’s process or go through the state’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council for approval. Most recent projects in the county have used the state process.
County Planning Manager Tommy Carroll said the process for creating solar development rules has been a long and complicated one. One of the planning commission’s biggest considerations has been the Growth Management Act, a state law that requires the protection of natural resource lands, including lands zoned for agriculture. Under the law and the county’s own comprehensive plan, agricultural lands can’t be used for non-agricultural purposes unless they’re less than 1 acre.
Carroll said that’s created a nuanced legal landscape to navigate.
“It’s left up to local jurisdictions to determine what’s basically non-agriculture and what is agriculture,” he told commissioners at a public hearing Tuesday. “And we do a really good job of making sure that we vet that question out every single time to make sure we’re not taking agricultural land out of production and out of agricultural use.”
The proposed ordinance would allow solar farms on agricultural lands, provided the land is located outside of an established irrigation district. Non-irrigated agricultural lands are generally used for things like grazing and dry land farming, Carroll said. The regulations would apply to large-scale solar production facilities and small-scale and community solar projects.
Carroll said county officials have reviewed different versions of the ordinance, and the Planning Commission felt this proposal was the best one possible.
More than a dozen Yakima County residents showed up to Tuesday’s public hearing to voice their support for the solar ordinance, citing potential agricultural benefits, economic opportunities for farmers and the need to shift toward clean, renewable energy.
Coleen Anderson, a co-leader of Yakima 350 Climate Action, urged commissioners to lift the moratorium. She believes agrivoltaics — a practice that simultaneously uses land for agriculture and solar energy production — could give farmers a reliable source of income while also providing shade for crops or grazing livestock.
“Expanding clean energy while keeping farmland working promotes healthier communities, honors landowners and bolsters the local economy,” Anderson said. “Yakima County has an opportunity to lead with a balanced approach that produces food, conserves water and produces energy all at the same time.”
Alexandra Perkins, a local physician, delivered a petition from more than two dozen Yakima health care providers stressing the importance of solar energy in reducing air pollution and enhancing electrical grid resilience. Meanwhile, East Valley High School student Preston Tucker read a petition in favor of the ordinance from Greenlight America, a nonprofit focused on supporting clean energy projects.
Some individual property owners also expressed their interest in using their land for agrivoltaics, describing the potential opportunity as a “win-win” situation. Jacob Jones described a proposed 10-acre, two-megawatt community solar project on his Yakima County property that he hopes could also be used for sheep grazing, while Yakima County resident Nancy Lust said she’s intrigued at the idea of putting solar panels on her property, potentially in combination with some other crop.
“I think that allowing farmers the ability and the flexibility to make use of their land will benefit the public as a whole by providing more energy to the grid, as well as allowing them one more way of making money off their property in a manner that still fits with being an agricultural community,” Lust said.
Commissioners have yet to make a decision on the ordinance. At Tuesday’s meeting, they requested a legal opinion on the draft code language.
The requirement that agricultural land be outside an irrigation district drew discussion.
Commissioner LaDon Linde requested an amendment allowing agricultural land within an irrigation district to be used for solar projects if the land is less than 50 acres, hasn’t been used for agriculture in at least 10 years and doesn’t have a Class 1 or 2 USDA soil designation. He used an example of a plot of land near Sunnyside that is within an irrigation district but has been out of production for decades.
“If we’re looking about protecting agriculture, I’m all for that. I grew up on a farm. I spent the first 45 years of my life as a farmer, so I know that and appreciate it very well,” Linde said. “But when we have a location like this where it’s not serving any other purpose other than to just stay there and grow some weeds, I think we ought to have another alternative there, when it’s inside the irrigation district.”
Commissioner Kyle Curtis expressed similar sentiments.
“I think that the reality is, we have parcel owners up and down this county that are in the middle and or near the outskirts of irrigation districts, and I think that this is an applicable potential route for those folks to seek a balance with their land,” Curtis said.
Both Linde and Curtis voted in favor of the amendment. Commissioner Amanda McKinney voted no, cautioning that an exception for solar development on irrigated agricultural land could set a precedent and open the door for landowners to petition the county to allow other uses on their farmland as well.
“I am greatly appreciative of the many voices with varying viewpoints who have provided input on this nuanced land use question,” McKinney told the Yakima Herald-Republic in an email. “I am supportive of multi-beneficial uses that also ensure we meet our legal requirement to keep and maintain agriculturally significant land in production.
“My nay vote today was in objection to the recommended change which diverged from the recommendation of the Planning Commission, as it significantly and materially altered the Commission’s recommendation that very clearly and necessarily limited agrivoltaics to parcels located outside of irrigation districts.”
McKinney added that she feels the board has a responsibility to seek legal analysis before moving forward with a decision.
Commissioners are tentatively scheduled to revisit deliberations on the ordinance in two weeks.
Olivia Palmer can be reached at opalmer@yakimaherald.com.
Staff writer
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