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2 <br />spoke in favor of prohibiting solar farms, 4 people who spoke against prohibiting solar farms, <br />and 4 letters received by the City that were all against prohibiting solar farms. The Planning <br />Commission and City Council decided not to prohibit solar farms at that time, and instead held <br />another workshop to discuss the ordinance. The workshop held on September 19, 2024 <br />resulted in direction to reconvene the ORC to consider revising the ordinance. <br /> <br />2. ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION: <br /> <br />Over the course of several meetings, the ORC discussed potential revisions to address <br />community concerns. Solar farm proposals often have the location of a solar array near the <br />edge of a large property and closer to adjacent dwellings, rather than being located centrally. <br />The ORC determined that community feedback may be better addressed with revisions that <br />guide the placement of the solar array towards the center of the property, no matter how large <br />the property is. Additionally, the ORC discussed the zoning districts where solar farms are <br />allowed, and determined that the permission of solar farms within urban zoning district <br />exclusively in the floodplain was no longer needed. The ORC recommended the following <br />revisions to the performance standards for solar farms: <br /> <br />• Increasing the minimum lot size for solar farms from 10 acres to 20 acres. <br />• Increasing the minimum setback from any principal structure on adjacent properties <br />from 200 feet to 400 feet. <br />• Including language that would require solar farms to “be located, insofar as possible, on <br />a central portion of the property in order to minimize visual impact on adjacent <br />properties and dwellings.” <br />• Removing solar farms in the floodplain as a permitted use within urba n zoning districts. <br />• Amending the definition of a solar farm to clarify that it is capable or intended to <br />distribute electricity for off-site use. <br /> <br />3. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: <br /> <br />Staff recommends that the City Council discuss the text amendments recommended by the <br />ORC. Staff recommends that the City Council call for a public hearing to be held at a Planning <br />Commission meeting for the proposed text amendments. <br /> <br /> <br />Attachments: <br />1. Draft ordinance with text amendments.