by Conner Sura
On a vote of 4-1, the Sartell City Council voted at its Oct. 23 meeting to approve the updated version of the city’s solar-power ordinance.
The meeting was a public hearing, partly because nearly 700 residents recently took an online citywide survey on how they feel about solar-power installations in Sartell. The results of that survey were recently released.
City council member Jill Smith was the only member of the council to vote against the approval of the solar ordinance. The three other members and Sartell Mayor Ryan Fitzthum voted for approval.
Smith said she thought the solar ordinance should have been sent to the planning commission for further review.
“I think we have a big deal,” she said. “I don’t think based on what I’m hearing any of us is opposed to solar in general. I just do think it would make sense since the planning commission created the solar ordinance we are reviewing tonight. It is a good time to circle back to the planning commission.”
(For more on Smith’s reaction on why she voted no, see the last few paragraphs of this story.)
The consensus in city council’s chamber, even among some vocal critics, is that the solar ordinance is a positive thing for Sartell. However, some did agree with Smith’s comments. They said they think the approval of the ordinance was moving too fast.
Doug Fern of Sartell spoke at the podium, voicing his concerns about the ordinance and results of the survey.
“This (the survey),” he said, “was already skewed to this and that (the results). I’m a little confused about that. But I am trying to understand how we did a survey with community input that we spent a lot of time and money on, but there was no change done on any of the ordinances. That if there is a majority of the public saying they would like to see this, this and this, but the planning commission and the council hasn’t decided to change anything . . . We should all listen to each other and make what is best.”
Fern was not the only public speaker who voiced concerns. Doug Boser, chief manager at Inventure Properties, voiced his concerns regarding potential screening issues with the proposed solar ordinance, saying screening issues make no sense and that if you have a quarter-mile setback, what would you screen it with? If the road is already higher than the screen you see the panels anyway, he said. He continued by saying the screening should be brought closer. The city should use vertical screening like plants, bushes and trees to hide the solar panels.
Evan Carlson of Enterprise Energy was also at the meeting. The Newsleaders interviewed him later.
Carlson said he is upset about how restrictive the ordinance is. Many months ago, he had applied to the City of Sartell to install a solar garden on property owned by Sartell Mayor Fitzthum in north Sartell. Fitzthum has stated in previous council meetings that he will refrain from any council decisions about that particular solar-garden plan (Carlson’s).
Carlson said he is confident with the care he puts into his developments that he will be able to meet the high demands. He ended his interview with the Newsleaders this way:
“Solar energy,” he said, “can produce higher tax dollars than agricultural land and it is often a change of use which causes solar to be a higher tax value than agricultural.”
With the city council’s final approval of the solar ordinance, solar-energy systems will be a permitted use in all zoning districts of the city. That means the use of solar gardens with an approved interim-use permit will be allowed in all zoning areas. In addition, the approval of the solar ordinance changes the ordinance from conditional-use permit to interim-use permit, effective immediately.
Jill Smith
In an interview Oct. 25, with the Newsleaders, council member Jill Smith further explained why she voted against the solar ordinance.
Public input, she said, should have been considered more closely.
She said she believes the ordinance could have or should have included policies that included some of the concerns residents expressed when they participated in an online citywide survey in recent weeks. For example, there was a strong opinion from survey respondents that solar gardens should not be allowed in residential areas.
Smith said there were no modifications in the final ordinance that were based directly on survey results from residents.
“We have an obligation to work with the (Sartell) planning commission to work with it jointly to contextually apply pieces of that public feedback to the ordinance in ways that would make sense for our community. That’s our job.”
