Large wooden fence posts have been installed around panels at the Union Solar project site on Route 31 in York Township. A combination of frustrations, ranging from fencing design issues to a general oversaturation of solar development, led the township trustees to ask the county commissioners to designate the county a restricted area to future wind and solar projects. Commissioners said they were open to the idea but made no official decisions.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Michael Williamson)
—
York Township is asking Union County officials to restrict the county from any future alternative energy development.
In a letter presented to the county commissioners on Wednesday by trustee Logan Rife, the township noted that since it is “ground zero” for solar development, the trustees wanted to make their official position on future projects known.
“We urge Union County Commissioners to designate Union County as a restricted county for any future development of wind farms, large wind farms and/or solar production facilities producing 50 or more megawatts of electricity,” the letter said. “By the commissioners taking this action, we believe a clear message will be sent to green energy corporations that Union County does not welcome any further development of this nature.”
In June 2022, the commissioners did approve a request from eight different townships to oppose future solar projects, ensuring an automatic rejection of any future sites generating over 50 megawatts of power. York was not one of those eight townships.
Union County currently has four solar projects in progress from companies that filed to be in the county before the passage of Senate Bill 52, which put certain restrictions on energy companies coming into the state. The bill did “grandfather” in those projects filed before that signage date.
The letter goes on to note that York Township is experiencing the largest “land-use change in its history” as the Cadence and Union Solar projects are building or planning to build on more than 5,000 acres of land in the township alone.
“It has been brought to our attention that land owners in the eastern half of our township are currently being pursued to lease acreage for additional solar development within our township,” the letter stated. “There is no sign the solar companies plan to slow down. Union County is economically diverse and growing rapidly. If the commissioners allow thousands more acreage to be pulled into solar energy production, this will only limit future possibilities within the county.”
While the commissioners didn’t offer an official response to the request, they said they would be open to considering the request.
Commissioner Steve Robinson said he was considering reintroducing a vote that previously failed to move forward. Last spring, a resolution came before the board that declared portions of the unincorporated areas of the county as restricted areas, but the motion did not receive a second and therefore didn’t move forward.
“What I’m planning on doing is possibly putting a revote up maybe toward November,” said Robinson. “That way we’d go through the process.”
Rife said, ultimately, the message from York Township is “we’ve seen enough.”
“We feel this checks a box for the county. This adds to our diversity,” he said. “When we attended the engineer’s meeting this winter, I learned that there will be 7,000 homes over the next 10 years – 700 a year – we’ve got other uses for this land.”
He said the residents continue to be frustrated at the whole situation, but said now that actual panels have been installed at the Union Solar site, the initial “shock and awe” might have worn off.
Mostly problems continue, he said, when project officials don’t respond or honor requests made by residents. Many of those issues have been addressed to Acciona, the company installing the Union Solar project across a northern section of Route 31, as Acciona has installed solar panels whereas the Cadence project hasn’t yet.
“I felt that Acciona could’ve done a much better job being a good neighbor during that process,” he said. “They took down woods and removed fence rows and leveled ground and they’re going wall to wall as far as they can.”
Other issues with the project come in a variety of forms but mostly deal with setbacks, road wear and tear and the type of fencing used.
County Administrator Bill Narducci said the county has been in contact with the company about the fencing issues. He said the approval is something that has to come from the Ohio Power Siting Board, which he said hasn’t responded one way or the other yet.
“We’ve communicated with Acciona what our expectations are,” Narducci said. “The general gist of what I’ve heard from folks is not what they expected.”
Large wooden fence posts have been put up at the Acciona sites off Route 31, but the commissioners said a simple wooden fence wasn’t part of the agreement.
Rife said that while there have been issues at the various sites, overall, the process hasn’t been all bad.
“I think during the major excavation of the project, there were some hiccups, but there has been a concerted effort to make it right,” he said. “My goal is, for when construction is complete, to still have open communications and dialogue to make sure – working through the county engineer – we can get these roads back to where they were before this began.”