Cecil County Government: Hornberger's Bill To "Restrict Solar" Approved By Council

Press release from Cecil County Government:

10/20/2021

Hornberger’s Bill to "Restrict Solar" Approved by Council

Elkton, MD: Yesterday, the Cecil County Council voted 4-0 to approve County Executive Danielle Hornberger’s legislation to strictly regulate community solar facilities in rural areas and prohibit community solar in residential areas and on Class 1 soils.

Community solar is defined as any solar facility that sends power to the electrical grid and is less than 2 megawatts in size.  The State Public Utilities Commission regulates solar facilities larger than 2 megawatts in size.

In addition, the new law requires community solar facilities to be at least 300 feet from public roads and neighbor dwellings, and at least 100 feet from other property lines and requires a buffer (including a combination of plants, trees, berms and fences).

"I want to thank the County Council for working with me to enact these restrictions on solar facilities.  These restrictions respect the rights of property owners but at the same time protect the County's agricultural heritage," stated County Executive Danielle Hornberger.

“With the state and federal government incentivizing solar facilities, it is vital that we enact rules and regulations to protect scenic Cecil County”, stated Steve O'Connor, the County's Director of Land Use.

Below are some of the legislation’s rules and regulations:

• The property owner or developer must create a decommissioning plan and enter into an agreement with the County to pay the cost of decommissioning and land restoration.
• Community solar facilities must be on lots of at least 50 acres and cannot comprise more than 25% of the land (i.e., 12.5 acres)
• Solar panels at community solar facilities cannot exceed 15 feet in height.
• Prohibits any solar facilities on Class 1 soils.

"There are only a finite number of acres in Cecil County comprising Class 1 soils," said Hornberger, "and we must protect these soils from development in order to protect our agricultural community."

“The development of this legislation has taken months of research and preparation, and I am pleased that the County Council was a true partner in the drafting process”, stated County Executive Hornberger. “I thank them for their support in protecting our agricultural land and residential areas.”

Community solar facilities produce energy for offsite consumption and can be owned by individuals, private companies, or non-profits. This legislation does not apply to solar panels that are purely for personal use (i.e., the electricity is utilized on the premises).

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This press release was produced by Cecil County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.