It was a quick undertaking Tuesday night as the Henderson City-County Planning Commission originated a zoning text amendment that would cap the number of acres of county land on which solar panels can be placed at 6,050.
There was no public comment for or against the proposed amendment to the county’s zoning ordinances.
The Henderson County Fiscal Court in January approved a request that the planning commission originate the text of an amendment to cap the acres on which solar panels can be placed at 6,050.
That would stop any further solar development in the county. The county, with two large solar developments in the Robards area—NextEra Energy and Geronimo Power—along with a development that is soon to be built—Henderson County Solar near Ky. 425—puts the total number of acres under solar panels in the county at 6,018, according to Brian Bishop, the executive director of the planning commission.
Since the January request from the fiscal court, the planning commission has updated the county’s comprehensive plan to align with the solar cap amendment, officials said Tuesday night.
The next steps before the proposal is finally approved are a bit of a back-and-forth. Now that the planning commission has originated the zoning text amendment, the document will be sent to the fiscal court, which will basically give it a nod of approval before the issue is sent back to the planning commission to hold the statutorily-mandated public hearing on the issue.
The planning commission then will hold the public hearing, make a recommendation and send that recommendation back to the fiscal court. That body will then hold a first and second reading and corresponding votes on the proposal.
