Logan County Board
Zoning and Economic Development discusses home occupations, residential solar gardens and battery boxes

 

[February 06, 2025] 

On Monday, February 3rd, the Zoning and Economic Development committee of the Logan County Board met in the Blue Room of the Logan County Safety Complex. This meeting began at 6:30 pm, immediately following the Transportation committee meeting.

Since last month, the County Board has added one additional member to each of their committees, taking the total number of members from four to five. The reason for this was to increase the chances of each committee being able to make a quorum, the minimum number of people needed to conduct business. With four committee members, the quorum needed was three. With five, the quorum is still three.

The four original members of this committee were present for the meeting, those members being Chairman Michael DeRoss, Vice Chairman Kathy Schmidt, Hannah Fitzpatrick, and Bob Sanders. The newest member, Joseph Kuhlman, was not in attendance. Board member Lance Conahan was also present, although he is not a part of this committee.

The committee started with the old business, beginning with the Countywide Broadband Initiative Project. A short update was given by DeRoss. He shared that board member Keenan Leesman is heading it and that it is moving ahead as planned.

The second piece of business that was discussed was an update on Top Hat Construction’s plan to turn their current laydown yard into permanent storage. This is going to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) in March and will come to the County Board after that.

The last piece of old business that was discussed was home occupations, something that has been discussed by the County Board for several months. The board members had a small sheet of rules and regulations regarding people running businesses out of their homes. Sending this sheet on to the Workshop meeting was discussed, as was sending it to State’s Attorney Brad Hauge for his consideration and review. Al Green and Tracey Bergin of the Zoning Office were present, and DeRoss asked if they believed this was the best product that the committee could send on for approval. Bergin shared that she did not believe it was.

The business of people selling firearms out of their homes was also discussed. The idea of having people fill out an informational sheet for their home occupation was mentioned, should their business be required to have a special permit to operate. This informational sheet would then be shared with the local authorities. This way, should the police and/or fire departments need to come to a home where many firearms (or something generally dangerous) may be present, they would know what they were getting into.

It was ultimately decided that the Zoning Office should come back next month with something the board can vote on regarding these home occupations. DeRoss shared his view on how this committee should work best. DeRoss addressed Green, saying, “you guys bring forth your best work and then we question it or praise it… much like if this was a hearing in front of ZBA.”

The committee then moved on to new business, starting with a ground mount solar ordinance. This ordinance does not allow for ground mounted solar panels to be installed on property that is zoned as residential. Bergin clarified that this does not apply to Lincoln, but only to areas out in the county.

The first concern that DeRoss addressed was about property rights, stating that he felt this ordinance was very restrictive. Green explained that people may not want a “wall of solar panels” along their property. DeRoss responded by stating that they likely would not have that many if they were using them for personal use only. Green explained that you would need quite a few solar panels to power a home.

The ordinance being considered would make an exception for personal use versus selling the power back to the grid. Green stated that an appendix might be added to the current ordinance, rather than rewriting any of what is already in place. The committee ultimately decided to approve this appendix and send it on to the ZBA.

The final piece of business that was discussed was an ordinance to allow a battery storage facility in the county. This facility would pull power from the grid and store it in the case the county ever needed it. Schmidt was surprised at how large they were, and Bergin stated that they hold a lot of power. The concern of these storage facilities catching fire was also discussed. Green and Bergin shared that the batteries are stored in a temperature controlled box that looks much like a semi-truck trailer. These boxes also have a system to combat a fire, should one break out. Also, local fire departments are provided with training on how to control one of these fires should that ever be an issue. It was decided that the Zoning Office would come back with something the committee could vote on next month.

[Matt Boutcher]