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President Donald Trump will host over than 100 hunters, anglers, and outdoor industry leaders for dinner at the Rose Garden.
by Jayla Howard
GRADY COUNTY, Fla. — Months of debate over solar development in Grady County have led county leaders to adopt new rules aimed at addressing concerns about how solar farms could affect land during a project and after it ends.
Grady County commissioners approved changes to the county’s solar farm ordinance this week, adding provisions related to setbacks, erosion protections and financial assurances intended to ensure money is available to clean up a solar site when its use ends.
“We made a bunch of changes to our ordinance, and I'm not writing the ordinance for them. I'm writing it for Grady County,” Commission Chairman Ray Prince said.
Prince said one of his biggest concerns is agricultural land and what could be left behind after decades of solar operations.
“We don't know what kind of stuff it's going to leave in our soil. We don't know what 20 years from now is going to bring to them,” Prince said.
Residents have been closely following the county’s solar discussions, with some saying they believe solar farms can damage the land and questioning whether it could be farmed again afterward. Minutes from the county’s Sept. 1 meeting show other residents also spoke against solar farms, while others argued property owners should be allowed to legally use their land as they choose.
Silicon Ranch, a company that has participated in Grady County’s solar discussions, said its approach in Georgia is designed to allow solar and agriculture to share some of the same land. The company said it is “regeneratively grazing and restoring more than 5000 acres across its Georgia projects."
“Our goal at Silicon Ranch is to leave the land as good, if not better, than when we initially find it,” according to the company's website.
The company also addressed what happens when a solar project reaches the end of its useful life.
“Silicon Ranch bears the cost of decommissioning, not the community or local government,” and they added that decommissioning includes removing the system’s components and stabilizing the ground.
Prince said the ordinance changes are part of what he sees as the county’s responsibility to protect residents over the long term.
“That is my fiduciary duty to the citizens of this county, to do the best thing I think that we need to do to protect us. We've got to look at what it's going to do to this county long term,” he said.
The new ordinance does not mean a solar project has been approved, but it sets the requirements future solar development would have to meet in Grady County.
2026 Sinclair, Inc.

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