- NextEra Energy withdraws application to rezone residential land for solar project
- Neighbors worked with planning commissions and township board to preserve residential zoning
- The worry is that Michigan Public Act 233 will be used to override local zoning when it comes into force later this year
- Watch the video to see neighborhood where industrial-scale solar farm was planned.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
We're continuing to learn more about possible solar developments in our neighborhoods. Power transmission lines like these have proven attractive to developers of solar farms…but neighbors here are pushing back.
Plans for NextEra Energy to build a large-scale solar farm in this residential neighborhood became a rallying point for a group of neighbors opposed to the project…including construction management planning specialist Brent Koors.
BRENT KOORS: "They had been working on this for 4-5 years with local township officials without telling any of the neighbors what was potentially coming."
After a back and forth battle over zoning changes that could have made the project possible – the company pulled its application before the Township Board was to have the final say this week. Koors believes the law giving local neighbors a say made a difference.
But with Michigan's Public Act 233 due to take effect this fall, neighbors may not be able to stop such projects for good. Public Act 233 gives Michigan's Public Service Commission final say over large energy projects.
KOORS: "We would no longer have the power to utilize local ordinances and zoning to properly constrain where and to what extent the community here wants these things to be developed."
They also had some support.
Tim Golding is Chair of Grass Lake Township's Planning Commission. His Commission as well as the Jackson County Commission recommended against rezoning the residential land to agricultural, which would have allowed it to be used as a solar farm.
GOLDING: "There's a lot of points that have to be met and we found as...we thought as the Township Planning Commission that they didn't meet the requirements to grant the rezoning."
The Township Board also adopted a one-year moratorium on solar last fall — a factor NextEra cited in its withdrawal letter.
But the company says it is not giving up on Grass Lake. The company says its decision is "strategic" and that it may return to the project after a few months.
With Public Act 233 on the horizon, this may improve the company's chances.
PREVIOUS VERSION OF OUR STORY:
We're continuing to learn more about possible solar developments in our neighborhoods. Power transmission lines like these have proven attractive to developers of solar farms…but neighbors here are pushing back.
Plans for NextEra Energy to build a large-scale solar farm in this residential neighborhood became a rallying point for a group of neighbors opposed to the project...
Including construction management planning specialist Brent Koors.
KOORS: "They had been working on this for 4-5 years with local township officials without telling any of the neighbors what was potentially coming."
After a back and forth battle over zoning changes that could have made the project possible – the company pulled its application before the Township Board was to have the final say this week. Koors believes the law giving local neighbors a say made a difference.
KOORS: "It's my belief and the belief of our group that they pulled the zoning application because the law is very clear: people in residential areas have the right to long-term stability in their zoning and to not have commercial industrial developments pop up in their backyard without due process."
But with Michigan's Public Act 233 due to take effect this fall, neighbors may not be able to stop such projects for good.
Want to see more local news? Visit the FOX47News Website.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox.
Select from these options: Neighborhood News, Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines, and Daily Forecasts.
