LAFAYETTE, IN — Large-scale solar projects in Tippecanoe County would be a lot smaller than previously proposed, according to new language introduced in the county’s solar ordinance amendment.
During Wednesday’s Area Plan Commission Ordinance Committee meeting, Tippecanoe County commissioners Tracy Brown, David Byers and Tom Murtaugh all said they support a project cap of 400 acres.
Conversations around large-scale solar developments began in early 2025 after a 1,700-acre development dubbed the Rainbow Trout Solar project was proposed for the northwestern side of Tippecanoe County.
After the Rainbow Trout Solar project was halted in August following a 4-3 vote to deny by the Tippecanoe County Board of Zoning Appeals in August, Geenex and RWE Energy, the companies behind Rainbow Trout Solar, filed a civil lawsuit to reverse the decision. In December, Circuit Court Judge Sean Persin ruled that a group of 11 neighbors who fought the proposed solar development will be allowed to intervene in the company’s lawsuit.
After a March 4 APC ordinance committee meeting, preliminary language in the ordinance limited the total for large-scale solar projects at 6,000 acres across the entire county but offered no caps on individual projects. It also allowed large-scale solar projects in agricultural, agricultural-wooded or office research zones while removing land zoned AA, or prime agriculture land, qualifying for special exception for large-scale solar.
Brown said 1,700 acres, the proposed size for Rainbow Trout Solar, was a “big chunk” of land, but he noted the next large-scale solar project could be even more.
“It may not take long to get to 6,000 acres total,” Brown said. “It makes sense to cap a project at 400 acres. Not only cap it, but also put a distance between projects so that you have a buffer.”
Brown said he also would propose a one-mile distance between projects so that developers don’t attempt to piggy-back off previous project sites.
Byers said that while reading reports from committee members tasked with crafting language for the ordinance, he was disheartened by the lack of concern for the type of farm ground projects would encompass.
“From the get-go, I have been against it, but I am willing to work with it,” Byers said. “Who knows? We’ve heard 400 acres will kill a project; no one will do it. Panels change, panels may get better, they may be able to absorb four times the power. So a 400-acre facility might equal a 1,000-acre facility down the road.”
Commissioners also requested additional setbacks from property lines, including 50 feet from a public right-of-way, 500 feet from a non-participating property with one side touching the project, 700 feet from a non-participating property with the project touching on two sides, 1,000 feet from a non-participating property with three sides touching the development, and 1,500 feet from a non-participating property with all four sides touching the development.
Kenny McCleary, a member of the Solar Study Committee organized to help craft and negotiate language for the county’s proposed ordinance, said he is disappointed, discouraged and frustrated by the ordinance’s proposed decommissioning plan.
“What you have in front of you is a piece of Swiss cheese,” McCleary said. “The decommissioning document you have in front of you is a hollow shell of what the community team put together to be a very thorough, comprehensive, full life cycle effort to ensure that the county, that property owners, that adjacent property owners, that the environment and our county infrastructure are not put at risk by this type of project throughout its entire life cycle and through the restoration and recovery into whatever mixed purpose that ground is going to have when this thing is pulled out.”
The plan initially proposed by the committee was drawn from the experiences of neighboring counties in their solar developments, McCleary said. What is currently included in the proposed ordinance requires the project owner manage panel removal, soil restoration after removal and inspection requirements throughout the decommissioning process.
Lindsey Payne, member of the West Lafayette Go Greener Commission, was also on the Solar Study Committee. She said she is in favor of large-scale solar developments.
Throughout the committee’s nine meetings between September and February, which lasted two to three hours each session, Payne said she found herself with concerns about language in the proposed ordinance that may not be an outright ban but could have that effect on large-scale solar projects.
“I think large-scale solar is a very viable energy option, but I think it needs to be done thoughtfully,” Payne said Wednesday. “I think we really do need to be thoughtful with how we address public health and safety, but that’s deeply wrapped up in non-renewable impacts.”
Although the newly proposed language would tightly restrict the size of solar developments in Tippecanoe County, Payne said she still believes large-scale solar is a viable energy option.
“I appreciate the time that Tom Murtaugh and the APC staff put into making this committee happen and seeing it come together so we could talk about these things; it was a noble effort,” Payne said. “We need to engage in this kind of discourse in order to address these kinds of challenges in our community.”
The proposed ordinance will move to the April 15 Area Plan Commission meeting at 6 p.m. in the Tippecanoe County Building at 20 N. APC members will vote to recommend to approve or deny the proposed amendment, which will then be sent to the commissioners.
Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached via email at jellison@usatodayco.com.

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