Commissioners won’t automatically ban solar, wind farms

Instead of approving an outright ban of solar and wind farms in eight townships, Portage County’s Board of Commissioners have opted to consider them on a case-by-case basis.

The commissioners’ unanimous April 2 vote followed a March 26 public hearing during which not one person spoke in favor of a ban that would have affected Atwater, Freedom, Hiram, Mantua, Nelson, Paris, Randolph and Rootstown townships.

All the requests for such bans were forwarded to the commissioners by the trustees of each township. Also at the township trustees’ request, the commissioners last year banned large and economically significant wind and solar farms in Shalersville.

Unless the commissioners repeal it, that ban remains in effect, said Chris Meduri, chief prosecutor of the civil division of the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office.

In scaling back blanket bans, county leaders will consider the interests of individual landowners, surrounding landowners and township trustees. The commissioners may prohibit each facility’s construction, limit its boundaries or take no action at all.

“After hearing from many residents, especially farmers, it’s clear some feel their property rights are being violated,” Commissioner Sabrina Christian-Bennett said. “These decisions should be made locally, allowing communities and landowners to determine what’s appropriate for their property.”

Commissioner Mike Tinlin also expressed discomfort with a ban that affects everybody.

“I want it to come to us case by case, so that if it’s on a quarter-acre lot and it’s going to interfere with something, then that’s something we have to look at. But if somebody has farmland and property, and they want to do something, they should be permitted to do it,” he said.

Ohio law does not stipulate minimum acreage for wind and solar farms.

According to rules the Ohio Power Siting Board adopted in 2023, solar panel modules in farms capable of operating at 50 or more megawatts must be set back at least 50 feet from non-participating parcel boundaries, at least 300 feet from non-participating residences and at least 150 feet from the edge of the pavement of any road in or adjacent to the project area.

Ohio law also stipulates that economically significant wind farms, those operating at five to 50 megawatts, must be set back at least 1.1 times the turbine’s height as measured from the base to the tip of the highest blade and at least 1,125 feet from the tip of the turbine’s nearest blade at 90 degrees to the nearest adjacent property line. 

Large wind farms, those able to operate at more than 50 megawatts, must adhere to the same setback requirements.

A second public hearing that would have had the commissioners considering a trustee-sanctioned ban on large and economically significant wind and solar farms in Charlestown and Suffield townships will not be scheduled as all applications will now route to the county commissioners. 

“It’s not that we’re not open to business. It’s just going to be a fit,” Christian-Bennett said.