STOCKTON, Ala. (WALA) – Residents opposed to a proposed solar farm in Stockton are working to gather signatures for a petition that could place a zoning referendum on an upcoming ballot.
The effort follows a unanimous vote by the Baldwin County Commission accepting a zoning request from a citizens’ group seeking to create a new zoning district to protect the Stockton Landmark District and surrounding area from what they describe as unchecked development.
Residents speak at commission meeting
Stockton resident John Murphy was among several residents who addressed the Baldwin County Commission this week.
“We don’t want to tell someone what they can do on their property, but when it affects everybody else’s property and it affects our town and way of life, we definitely are very concerned,” Murphy said.
City of Bay Minette clarifies its role
The City of Bay Minette also released a statement this week after receiving inquiries from residents. The statement said, in part:
“It is important to clarify that the proposed project is located in an unincorporated area outside the City of Bay Minette’s municipal boundaries and regulatory authority. As such, the City does not have zoning, building code, or permitting jurisdiction over this development.”
The county had previously indicated it had no capability to restrict land use in unzoned areas.
What comes next
The commission’s acceptance of the zoning request allows the citizens’ group to begin collecting signatures. According to Baldwin County Commission Chairman Jeb Ball, petitioners must obtain signatures from 10% of registered voters in the affected area before the process moves forward.
“They’ve got to get ten percent of the registered voters in that area to sign a petition and then it goes through a probate process and it comes back to us. We’ll be the final approval if everything — all the checks and balances. We’ll be the final authority to approve the new districts,” Ball said.
The proposed new zoning district would include the Stockton Landmark District and zoning district 3. Ball said the full petition process could take several months.
“If you add up all the days, I don’t know the exact number but it’s a hundred and twenty days to gather the signatures. Then the probate judge has so many days to verify the petition. If they’re lacking some signatures on the sheet, then the Probate Judge allows another so many days to get the few signatures left to get. Then, they have to be verified,” Ball said.
Ball told FOX10 News that if the petition process is completed successfully, voters could see the measure on the ballot this November. There are no guarantees that a zoning change at this stage would impact the proposed development.
Silicon Ranch plans community meeting
Silicon Ranch, the company behind the proposed solar farm, said it is planning a community meeting. In a written statement, the company said, in part:
“We are actively making plans for a community meeting to address questions and bring facts to address misinformation that has unfortunately become part of the public discourse around our planned investment in Baldwin County.”
No official date has been set for that meeting.
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