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OLIVIA — Renville County could loosen its visual screening requirements for solar projects.
The possibility gained traction among members of the Renville County Board of Commissioners as they reviewed the annual report by the Environmental Services Department at their meeting on Feb. 10.
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Since 2021, the county has required that developers of solar projects under its jurisdiction plant two rows of trees to provide visual screening for adjacent residences, as well as along roadways. The requirement allows no exceptions.
Environmental Services Director Scott Refsland told the commissioners that, in some cases, the owners of residences have said they would prefer not to have the trees as screening.
The director said he has some questions of his own about the value of screening required between the solar arrays and roadways. There are a number that have been operating for more than five years, but even after this length of time, the height and size of the trees is not necessarily blocking the view of the solar panels.
The director said he is also not sure that motorists traveling at highway speeds are distracted by seeing the solar panels. They have become a familiar part of the landscape in the county.
The current rule for residential screening with no exception also contradicts the intent of conditional use permits. They are intended to be evaluated on an individual basis. They allow local governments to set requirements for each project based on its own merit, Refsland explained.
The commissioners voiced support for a proposal that would allow residents of neighboring properties to sign a waiver if they do not want a developer to plant trees for screening. Without the waiver, the county’s ordinance would still require the trees as screening as part of the conditional use permit for a project, according to the proposal.
Commissioner Greg Snow was among the commissioners voicing support for the option of a waiver. He said the county adopted the requirement with no exceptions based on the argument that it protected future property owners. He noted that the county favors landowner rights, and this no-exception requirement takes them away.
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He said the no-exception rule was adopted against a recommendation from the committee that helped develop the county’s renewable energy ordinance.
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