Changes have been made to local zoning regulations.
Jay County Commissioners approved two new ordinances regulating battery storage facilities and data centers and amended existing ordinances regarding commercial solar and wind farms Monday.
They also repealed a one-year moratorium on new wind farm developments and retroactively ended one-year moratoriums on new solar farm and battery storage facility developments.
Jay/Portland Building and Planning has been working with the county plan commission on drafting zoning regulations for battery storage and data center facilities, as well as updating zoning restrictions for solar and wind farms, for about a year. The county enacted one-year moratoriums on new wind and solar farm and battery storage facilities last year to allow time for creating new legislation.
Moratoriums on new solar farm and battery storage developments in Jay County ended April 28. The moratorium on new wind farm developments was set to remain in effect through July 21.
Jay County Plan Commission recommended updates and new ordinances to the commissioners March 17. Per law, commissioners held a public hearing Monday before deciding on each ordinance.
All four ordinances indicate setback requirements may be waived in writing by adjoining landowners.
Commercial battery storage facilities are typically operated in conjunction with solar and wind farms to store captured energy. With the ordinance approved Monday, facilities in Jay County must have 500-foot setbacks from property lines. Equipment also needs to be enclosed within a 7-foot security fence set back 50 feet from the property line.
Permit fees are $2,500 per megawatt.
Data centers, per the new ordinance, are required to have 1,000-foot setbacks from property lines and 2,500-foot setbacks from residential dwellings, churches, schools, businesses, public buildings and other rural residential or commercially zoned areas. The maximum height of a data center in Jay County is 35 feet. Any water-based cooling system is required to operate on a closed-loop system.
The ordinance also sets hours of operation for generator usage, stipulates noise levels may not exceed 50 decibels as measured from property lines and requires a 6-foot berm to be used as a sound buffer between the facility and adjoining properties.
The required permit fee for data centers is 6 cents per cubic foot.
Both battery storage facilities and data centers are permitted only in areas zoned agricultural-residential with a special exception use granted by the Jay County Board of Zoning Appeals.
Jay/Portland Building and Planning director John Hemmelgarn and administrative assistant Pati McLaughlin both pointed out there is little regulation to use as a model regarding data centers, noting the county can always amend its zoning ordinances in the future if needed.
Hemmelgarn said the ordinance as written gives the Jay County Board of Zoning Appeals the power to determine how a data center’s cooling system would work.
He pointed to a recent decision by the St. Joseph County Drainage Board to allow an Amazon data center to discharge 31 million gallons of water daily from its New Carlisle construction site.
“I don’t think we want that here,” he said. “I think there is protection for the water, and the setbacks.”
Jase Small, a rural Penn Township resident, pointed to uncertainties with the new technology. Small was the only individual who was not an elected official or county employee to speak at the public hearing Monday.
“I feel the technology is really new, we don’t know the full repercussions of what they entail, just because it’s so new,” he said. “I think, if they want to come, that’s fine, but we set a stricter setback on them now, rather than wait until later.”
Commissioners approved the two new ordinances and repealed a moratorium on battery storage facilities.
Solar and wind farm ordinances were most recently updated in 2019. Updates approved Monday include increasing permit fees from $1,750 to $2,500 per megawatt and increasing development plan application fees from $20,000 to $50,000.
Setbacks for solar farms are 250 feet from property lines, and setbacks for wind farms are 1,500 feet from property lines. Per the new ordinances, those setbacks may be waived in writing by participating and non-participating landowners.
Previously, setbacks for solar farms were 25 feet, and setbacks for wind farms were measured at 1.5 times the wind tower height.
Commissioner Chad Aker serves on the Jay County Plan Commission and has been involved with updating and creating the new ordinances. He voiced support for each piece of zoning legislation prepared for commissioners Monday, specifically referencing how adjoining property owners are able to waive setbacks in writing.
“It does give the power back to the people that don’t want these projects right next to them,” he said.
Small, who lives on the Jay-Blackford county line, spoke in favor of measuring setbacks starting from the property line instead of the dwelling.
“I’m basically surrounded on the Blackford County side,” he said. “I pay the taxes for that property, I don’t like them using my land for their setback if it’s from the dwelling, so I do agree with the new ordinance.”
Commissioners president Duane Monroe said he wouldn’t vote for updating the solar farm ordinance, explaining he wanted to see solar panels installed for one of the four proposed projects in Jay County before he agreed to setback limits. Later in the meeting, he said he would like to see the setback doubled to 500 feet.
Commissioner Doug Horn also noted it’s difficult to make a decision without the county having a solar farm as a standard for regulations.
Hemmelgarn explained 250 feet had been common ground between farmers and developers and adjoining property owners, with additional footage leading to a significant amount of land being unused.
Discussion ensued on whether to approve the updates or start another moratorium. County attorney Wes Schemenaur said he would advise against establishing an indefinite moratorium on solar farms, pointing to legal troubles from roughly 30 years ago regarding a moratorium on landfills in Jay County.
Aker noted the county may amend the ordinance at any time. He suggested commissioners approve the changes, pointing to the larger setbacks and option for adjoining property owners to waive those setbacks in writing if they so choose.
Commissioners approved the updated solar farm ordinance 2-1 with Monroe dissenting. They also retroactively repealed a moratorium on solar farms, with Monroe dissenting on that vote as well.
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For more news from the commissioners’ meeting, see Wednesday’s newspaper.
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