NEBRASKA CITY – Otoe County commissioners approved zoning regulations that allow commercial solar on up to 1 percent of the county’s total acres, but demand setbacks that may allow one landowner to kill energy projects for landowners around them.

Zoning Administrator Dave Schmitz said the regulations forwarded by the Otoe County Planning Commission included a 1,000 foot setback from non-participating dwellings and told commissioners Tuesday that Commissioner James Parsons’ motion for 1,000 feet from the property line would be too much for any project he is aware of.

Dan Mauk of the Nebraska City Area EDC said setbacks of 300 to 500 feet are typical around the state and he suspects that 1,000 feet from a property line verges on killing commercial solar in Otoe County.

Mauk said there is no particular reason for the setbacks except that some people do not like solar farms, but Parsons said larger setbacks might reduce fire risks.

Several citizens speaking at Tuesday's public hearing said they did not want to see solar panels where there once were crops.

Ann Boellstorff of Douglas said she wants the county's ag land to be used for agricultural purposes.

She urged keeping the prohibition against solar in the river corridor

She said the 2017 USDA agricultural census 390,020 acres of farmland in Otoe County, but was reduced by over 21,000 acres in the 2022 census.  She said Otoe County should protect its farmland.

The regulations say solar can not be on more than 1 percent of the land in Otoe County, but Boellstorff said .5 percent is plenty.

Howard Bebout, an Otoe County planning commissioner who cast the dissenting vote on forwarding the recommendations to the county board, said the county’s comprehensive development plan is intended to preserve the agricultural fabric of the county.  He asked for more stringent regulations, including setbacks from both participating and non-participating residences.

Chuck Hassebrook of Sandhills Energy said 1,000 feet setbacks from any property line might make 10 acres available on a parcel of 160 acres. On an 80-acre parcel, there would be no land available for solar panels.

Commissioner Jared Sornson said the property line setbacks apply only to non-participating properties, so if several adjacent landowners agree, then a project could go through the process to seek a conditional use permit.

Commissioner Chuck Cole said the county is not killing commercial solar, but wants to strike a balance between participating and non-participating land uses.


Cole: "It's going to force the solar farm developer to establish more contracts, if you have a neighbor that is non-participating. It will encourage the developer to get more farmers to work together."

Cale Giese of OPPD said a setback of 1,000 feet from a non-participating residence is on the restrictive side. The county responded by increasing the setback to begin from the property line.

The county regulations outright ban solar in what it calls the "river corridor.'

Hassebrook said that eliminates 850 acres near where the North Fork of the Little Nemaha River crosses Highway 50 west of Otoe and any parcel that touches the creek, which runs from Elmwood to Auburn.

Commissioner Rick Freshman said commissioners are being told that the state and region needs more electrical generation. He said nuclear power is likely next on the county’s zoning agenda.

OPPD generation project development manager Cale Giese offered technical suggestions for the zoning, but the board discussed only setbacks and sightline engineering and did not adopt any of the suggestions.

  1. Giese said the regulations provide 90 days to remove infrastructure when 180 days is typical.

  2. Current regulations require an escrow account to be established while performance bonds and letters of credit are more popular. He suggested that the issue be decided in the conditional use process rather than zoning regulations.

  3. He suggested that a conditional use permit be reviewed by a third party. “This will shift the burden of technical knowledge from you to a trusted third party.”

  4. The current regulations require on-site power lines to be buried. Giese said the paragraph is not necessary because on-site power is run through the racking system that fixes the solar panels in place.

  5. He said the noise restrictions of 40 dba is irrelevant as noise from solar power inverters is not typically heard beyond the fence line.

    6. Regarding screening, he recommended stating what the professional engineer is expected to do regarding a sightline study. Otoe County Attorney Jennifer Panko-Rahe also advised that the regulations say what the engineer is supposed to do. 


 

 

Zoning Administrator Dave Schmitz said he does not think the planning commission would have a problem with a 1,000 feet from a property line.

Schmitz: “From the property line, it probably would kill – I don’t know exactly where their project is, I know where the lease options are – but another, if a house is on the other side of an 80 or closer to it, it can almost kill any project in that next farm next to them. That extra, from the property line, makes a big difference.”

He said the wind turbine regulations ban wind turbines from within a mile of property lines.

Schmitz: “That in essence killed any commercial wind turbine development in Otoe County. There’s no way you can get it done. I mean, it says we allow it, but it can’t be done. A thousand feet (from a non-participating dwelling) makes it a little harder, but from the property line is too much.”