Hundreds of residents attended an Ingersoll Township Planning Commission meeting to voice concerns about a solar farm project being constructed in their community.
INGERSOLL TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJRT) – The Ingersoll Township Planning Commission voted against a controversial DTE Energy solar farm after hours of debate with hundreds of residents Monday night.
Planning commission members voted 5-1 well after midnight to deny a special use permit for the project, which includes an industrial scale solar farm on 17 properties in rural Midland County, Freeland and Hemlock.
Many Ingersoll Township residents pointed out their community is known for its rural character and they want to keep it that way.
“The township was built on agriculture and retains a strong rural feel with many active centennial farms,” said Pastor Clayton Beck of The Well Community Church in Hemlock. “That’s what Ingersoll Township is, that’s what it’s known for and everyone who lives there and I’m assuming that everyone that is here wants it to remain.”
However, a farmer who chose not to talk on camera said she and her husband are selling their land for the use of solar panels to create a more stable income for their family.
The Ingersoll Township Planning Commission voted early Tuesday to deny DTE Energy’s request for a special use permit for a proposed solar park project.
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