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Lincoln aldermen tackle the topic
of solar farms and gardens within city limits
[March 13, 2025]
For the past several committee of the whole meetings
of the Lincoln City Council discussions have focused on solar farms
or gardens located within the city limits. The topic has been
spurred on by the unannounced arrival of a solar farm/garden behind
the United Community Bank/Heartland Community College building and
in front of Wal-Mart on the city’s west side and the larger solar
farm on the east side of town next to Dollar General.
The discussion began when Alderman Kevin Bateman said
that constituents were concerned about the unsightly impact the
solar panels are having on the landscape of the city. He said that
he would first and foremost want to see city regulations that
require fencing around the farm that would block the solar panels
from the view of the pubic.
There was a good deal of discussion over the next few weeks about
the fencing in particular. Bateman said that the solar panels can be
low to the ground, but they can also be as tall as 12 feet when
“fully tilted.” To understand this. The panels are established in
two modes. One is a stationary mode where the position of the solar
array stays in one position constantly. The second mode is a moving
panel that essentially follows the sun. With the tilt toward the sun
in the early morning hours the top edge of the panel will max out at
12 feet. Then as the sun travels the sky the panels change their
angles to catch the full impact of the sun’s rays. By evening, the
panels have tilted fully toward the western sky and the highest edge
of the panel again reaches 12 feet.
Bateman’s suggestion was that the fence be built around the solar
farms or gardens based on the maximum height of the panel, but with
a total height not to exceed 12 feet.
He also wanted the council to be made aware of solar farm or garden
applications being processed by the zoning office. He said that in
the case of the farm in front of Wal-Mart, the application process
had been followed to the letter, and that Zoning Officer Wes
Woodhall had acted completely in accordance with city rules and
codes. But Bateman’s problem was that the city did not know that the
farm was going in until it was already there.
Bateman was asked to work with city Attorney John Hoblit and
Woodhall to come up with the amendments to the city ordinance
Bateman thought would be desirable.
At the committee of the whole meeting on February 26th, Bateman and
Hoblit brought forward the revisions they had come up with working
with Woodhall. It established fence requirements for all solar
farms/gardens in city limits. Set the maximum fence height at 12
feet and established the need for a special use permit.
The fencing requirement stipulated that it would be a
view blocking fence and that the fence should also be no less than
six feet tall.
The height requirement became confusing for aldermen, and it was
suggested that the fence could be six feet tall while the panels
were 12 feet, and the applicant would still be incompliance.
Other concerns were that it seemed that the fencing rule would apply
to ground mounted solar panels in the private backyards of
homeowners, which felt like an unnecessary restriction on city
residents. Bateman said the rule would apply to everyone, and
aldermen were not necessarily in favor of that stipulation.
Bateman also said that the wording on the height of the fence was
clear to him, but it could be adjusted to say that the fence had to
be at a height equal to the fully tilted height of the solar panels,
but not less than six feet and not more than 12.
This week, Bateman changed his approach to the topic. He began by
saying that he didn’t feel there would be any concern for
residential solar panels because of the space required for them. He
said what was being proposed was that the city council review each
application for ground-mounted solar panels in the city limits.
He said the applicant would submit plans, drawings, and all the
specifications for the farm or garden, the council could then have
time to review the application. He said there would also be time to
look at the location of the proposed farm or garden and come to a
clear understanding of the impact it would have on the surrounding
area. Then, the council could make the decision as to whether or not
to approve the project, and whether or not to put some special
conditions on the project. He said that the city utilizes special
use permits in other areas and has the right to place conditions on
projects, so this would be the same.
The first person to speak when Bateman finished was alderwoman
Rhonda O’Donoghue who said she completely disagreed with the entire
plan. She said that she didn’t know why it was felt that the council
had to be in control. She said the city pays Woodhall to do his job,
and this is his job. O’Donohue’s suggestion was that if it was
necessary, then establish a committee to review the applications
like the city does with the economic development grants. The
committee could then deliver its recommendations and the council
members on the whole would not be involved.
She added that she did agree that there needed to be some regulation
involved with the business and commercial farms, but the council
didn’t need to be hands on in each application. She said she was
okay with putting rules in place, but not okay with every
application having to come to the full city council.
Bateman said that someone had to give Woodhall direction on how to
go forward with each application. He said the regulations in the
current code were not sufficient, but at the last meeting aldermen
had balked over setting fence height rules. He said that because no
one is giving Woodhall direction, the latest solar farms have been
installed and are eyesore near Dollar General.
O’Donohue said that Bateman was the only one who had a big issue
with the farm at Dollar General. Bateman said that all she needed to
do was ask people. He added that the fencing being put up around
that farm now does nothing to improve the look of the farm because
it is agricultural fencing that can does nothing to block the view
of the array.
Alderman David Sanders weighed in saying he felt the city was
overreacting to the situation. He said that the council agrees there
needs to be rules on the fencing, the height of the fence, the
height of the solar panels and more, but he said the applicants
should not have to come to the council to get that permit. He echoed
O’Donohue that setting the rules should be done, but that enforcing
those rules was the job of the building and zoning office and that
Woodhall should be permitted to do his job without oversight by the
council.
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Bateman said the problem was that the council has
been discussing the rules to establish for weeks, and nothing has
happened. Sanders said then the city should simply agree on how tall
solar panels can be and how tall the fences should be to go around
them, then let Woodhall handle it.
Mayor Tracy Welch said that as in past discussions, the council has
agreed that it is not an expert on certain situations and therefore
relies on experts to guide and advise. He said he felt that was the
case with solar farms. The council doesn’t know they are not
experts, so therefore should not be making expert decisions. He felt
that yes, the city should adjust the current codes and add some
better restrictions, but then it should be up to the experts they
have hired to implement the rules. He said he would also go along
with the suggestion of O’Donohue that if review of the applications
was needed, to appoint a review committee.
Bateman said the problem was that over the last few discussions, the
council has not agreed or committed to any rules on fencing. He said
that discussions had resulted in a “hodgepodge” of suggestions but
with nothing decided.
Welch said that there had been changes to the
ordinance and that fencing requirements had been addressed, while
Bateman said that nothing official had been decided.
Hoblit identified one sticking point in the amended
ordinance was the height range between six feet and 12 feet. He said
that range would be problematic, and that the council should set the
height and leave it, whether it be 12 feet or some other height, but
that there should be no minimum or “up to” height rule.
Alderman Sam Downs said that the conversations of the previous
meetings had disturbed him in that he didn’t feel that residential
ground mounted solar panels should be forced to have fencing. He
said he objected to that scenario and then ended up having a problem
with the fencing all together. He added he had talked to Woodhall
after that last meeting and was told that the council could or would
have discretion on setting the rules in all cases. He said he was
okay with going that route but was also very much in favor of
turning it over to a committee instead of the full council.
Downs concluded that he was not in favor of “forcing a fence on
every single person who comes forth with solar.”
Bateman said, “What about all our other fencing codes, are you okay
with them? You have to have fence around pools?” He went on, “a
couple of you had said we’re telling people what to do with their
property. We’ve got literally hundreds of codes that tell people
what they can do with their property.”
Downs said he wasn’t talking about the other codes he was only
talking about solar. Bateman countered that he was concerned that
youngsters could get electrocuted on a solar panel. He said that
residentially, the panels are generating enough power to run the
house and that the cables are exposed. He said it is dangerous and
that the panels should have a fence around them.
Downs told him then to vote that way. He added that he had never
heard of a kid getting electrocuted on a solar panel, but maybe that
could happen, he didn’t know. But he said he had definitely heard of
kids drowning in pools.
Alderwoman Wanda Lee Rohlfs said she does know that panels have been
hit by hail and broken, leaving pieces of the panel on the ground.
Welch said that was a good point, and the question for the council
now needed to be “is the fencing requirement for safety concerns or
simply for looks or for both.”
Rohlfs added that there are also issues at time with glare. She said
that she understood that it was being addressed and getting better.
Then she asked how the overall height of the panels was determined,
was there a stipulation in the installation process or could an
owner choose whatever height they wanted. Welch said that was a good
point as well.
The conversation moved to “the bank” which appeared
to be the new construction of the Heartland Bank on Woodlawn, when
it was noted that the bank is in a commercial district that butts up
against a residential district. The question from Alderman Steve
Parrott was which fence code would apply now, as heights on
residential fences is not as tall as 12 feet. Alderwoman Robin
McClallen said the commercial code would apply she thought. She also
said that she knew that the residents living behind the bank would
not want to be staring out at a solar farm from their back yards.
McClallen said she thought the proposed restrictions that had been
drafted into the current ordinance were good, but she also does not
believe the full council should have to review every application.
Discussion moved on to the fact that the bank solar garden will have
14 feet tall arrays, while right now the best the city is doing is a
12 feet tall fence, so those panels will still be visible.
McClallen said that perhaps the city should look at any application
for a farm occupying for example five acres or more, but that she
agreed with O’Donohue that the smaller arrays should be left to the
zoning office.
After all the discussion, it was decided that the action item on the
next voting agenda would be approval of forming a committee to
oversee the applications of solar farms or gardens within city
limits. The committee will consist of the mayor, two alderman,
Woodhall, and one constituent.
Woodhall and Hoblit were instructed to amend the ordinance to
reflect the use of the committee in setting requirements for arrays
and making recommendations for approval to the full board.
[Nila Smith]
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