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During a meeting that gathered many throughout the community and required standing room only, solar energy was the main topic of discussion at Thursday’s Clark County Fiscal Court meeting.

A solar ordinance passed upon second reading by a vote of 5-2, with Clark County Judge-Executive Les Yates and Magistrate Robert Blanton serving as the “No” votes.

The purpose and scope of the ordinance are mentioned in official documents.

“The requirements set forth in this ordinance shall govern the setback and decommissioning of all solar merchant electric facilities located solely or partly in Clark County, KY, in a manner that will promote the safety, health, and welfare of the community; prevent utility-scale solar development in the Agricultural Zone; and preserve farmland, protect historic resources, and ensure that such facilities are developed in a manner compatible with neighboring properties,” the ordinance reads.

According to Section B, Definitions, a solar merchant electric generating facility is one that, together with all associated structures and facilities, is capable of operating at an aggregate capacity of ten megawatts or more and sells the electricity it produces in the wholesale market at rates and charges not regulated by the Public Service Committee.

Will Mayer,  the Executive Director of Clark Coalition, argued that the move was necessary before Kentucky House Bill 4 becomes fully enacted at the end of June.

HB4, passed in late March of this year, concerns merchant electric generating facilities.

“This [ordinance] allows the local comprehensive planning process to finish and for the zoning ordinance to be updated to reflect that update,” Mayer said. “This preserves local control.”

Mayer mentioned that not doing so Thursday night threatened the Fiscal Court’s ability to counteract actions wanted to be taken by solar developers based on any ordinance of their creation.

However, not all agreed.

John Hendricks, a lawyer for Rowady Hendricks Law representing a solar developer, also spoke.

“I think it’s on shakier ground passing it before HB4 even goes into effect,” Hendricks said. “My client didn’t prepare an ordinance. There’s no fundamental way on June 29 [that] all prep work can be done.”

Magistrate Blanton disagreed about going forth with the ordinance change, stating that a previous moratorium ruled that action would only be taken after completing the Comprehensive Unit Plan process.

Before getting to the “WHEREAS” section of the document related to the intended actions of local government, he suggested that the Court take preventative action.

“My suggestion would be that after this [prior section], we just put a period right there and add another sentence or two that says, ‘we will review it again when the Comprehensive Plan is completed’,” Blanton said. “We’ve got a moratorium in place. We’ve got planning and zoning. This would reinforce that moratorium.”

Magistrate Steve Craycraft, who helped draft the ordinance, stated that plans have since changed.

“The [Comprehensive Unit] Plan keeps getting pushed back. It was supposed to have been done,” Craycraft said. “We’re looking at HB4. We want to get this [ordinance] passed.”

Craycraft was joined by Magistrates Ernest Pasley, Dan Konstantopoulos, Mark Miller and Chris Davis in supporting the ordinance.