The Starke County Commissioners denied a request Monday to make more land available for the Mammoth Solar Project near Bass Lake. A petition to rezone the Redlin property south of U.S. 35 was denied by a vote of two-to-one, with Mark Gourley opposing the motion. Rezoning the land from Commercial to Agriculture would have allowed for the placement of solar panels.
Since the matter was last discussed earlier this month, the request was reduced to eliminate the portion closest to U.S. 35. However, members of the audience continued to complain that the panels would be too close to Bass Lake, and that the idea of a solar farm would keep away potential tourists. They were also concerned that the rezoning would lead to more solar requests in the future, and that the solar panels could impact wildlife and even Bass Lake’s weather patterns.
But the county’s setback and buffering requirements mean the panels shouldn’t have been visible from the highway, and attorney Chris Shelmon argued that the rezoning was simply “filling in” the existing project, not expanding it. “These two parcels are contiguous to the existing project,” Shelmon explained. “The Doral project is in full swing, and this really rounds out that request. It ultimately has nothing to do with the other proposed projects who aren’t as further along.”
But Commissioner Bryan Cavender was concerned that solar development was moving too quickly. “We really don’t know what this is all about,” he said. “We never will until we see some of it in action, and you’ve got two other solar farms coming, up north and San Pierre. Somewhere, we’ve got to slow down and see what’s going to happen.”
Commissioner Charles Chesak felt Starke County may eventually have to limit how much of its land is turned over to solar farms. In the meantime, the Redlin property remains zoned for future commercial development, even though much of it is currently used for agriculture.
