Zeeland Township planning commissioners seem to have listened to residents, having held their ground against the land-hungry solar developer RWE.

On Tuesday evening, March 10, the Commission met in front of a fraction of the crowd that has attended as of late. With the trajectory of the Planning Commission to create an “incompatible workable” renewable energy ordinance, it appeared most residents will be redirecting their pleas to the current solar applicant, RWE.

RWE will host three public meetings to receive the public’s comments on the site plan, which can be found on the developer’s website. To send written comments prior to the public meetings, email Joseph Brochu at silvermaplesolar@rwe.com.

To address RWE in person, plan to attend one of the following public hearings:

Date: March 17th
Time: 6:00. pm
Location: Evergreen Ministries, 4512 48th Ave., Hudsonville

Date: March 18th and March 19th ‍
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: Zeeland Township Hall, 6582 Byron Road, Zeeland

‍

Commissioners Continue to Hold Their Ground

Even though RWE plans to bypass the township, the Zeeland Planning Commission spent the meeting continuing to revise its first-ever renewable energy ordinance.

Township Attorney Dave Eberle recapped that Michigan's Public Act 233 has given the Township two options, to either create a compatible renewable energy ordinance that would require energy companies such as RWE to permit locally or adopt an incompatible workable ordinance, recognizing that a developer can go to the state because it's not a compatible with the firm’s site plan. The intent would be to have the ordinance still sufficiently workable so that a developer may choose to permit locally.

Planning Commissioner Linda Walker clarified that either the commissioners fight and try to protect the farmland, or they give it to RWE. If they fight, RWE will go to Lansing and get the land, but it’s delayed.

Until anything changes with PA 233, once a developer bypasses a township and goes to the state, there will be a contested hearing—with the township having to argue at the MPSC as to why changes should be made. There are some standards the MTSC would have to consider, but in the end, it is a decision by the MPSC.

There currently is active litigation against PA 233 with oral arguments scheduled for April. Eberle expects it will be at least a few months before an opinion is given by the Court of Appeals.

‍

Tweaks to the Ordinance

Eberle then reviewed the draft changes he had made on request of the Planning Commission.

500 acres
Regarding the plan to limit energy projects to 500 acres, Eberle said the Township would argue in a hearing that a project of 1900 acres would be utilizing an unreasonable amount of farmland within the county.  He added that there’s definitely a risk, but the Township would move forward with the understanding that limiting the acreage is guaranteeing that RWE will go to the MPSC. Eberle said it’s a valid policy decision that will have impact down the road.

Eberle told of a news article from days earlier in which one of the developers couldn’t get enough land.

The reality is that the developers can only do a project if they get the land.

Developers always can go to the MPSC, but they still have to have land from the landowners. In the referenced article, there weren’t enough landowners who were on board, and it killed the project.

According to PA 233, for a project to be able to go through the MPSC it needs to meet a minimum number of megawatts. If developers want to put in a small scale commercial solar project, they won’t have the option of going to the state. A resident asked whether the ordinance could be written that if the project was under the megawatt required by PA233, it wouldn’t be allowed at all.

Township Planner Lori Castell responded that if something is a legal use, such as solar, you have to make a provision for it to be allowed somewhere in your township. And if you make it so extremely hard that it’s exclusionary, then you can get in trouble for having an exclusionary ordinance.

Commissioners agreed that projects that aren't “PA233-eligible,” will be prohibited within Ag zoning but allowed in industrial areas or on parking lots.

Castell suggested adding that if PA 233 is repealed, larger projects will no longer be allowed within Ag zoning.

‍

Glare
Walker spoke of concerns with glare coming from the solar panels affecting pilots flying in and out of Ottawa Executive Airport. Walker projected photos she had taken while flying over Muskegon’s 250-megawatt, 550,000-paneled facility sprawled over 1900 acres. The photos demonstrated a definite glare even though, as Walker pointed out, it was a hazy day, and the facility was said to have been built with low glare—as RWE claims the Silver Maple project would be.

Drain tile map
Additionally, Walker pushed back where Eberle had removed the requirement for a drain tile map. She thought if something were to happen, the information would be good to have on file.

Commissioner Scott Beute said that as he understood it, a drain tile map already was required in PA233, and anything required by the MPSC that is adequate should be included. “What we don’t want to do,” he said, “is make our ordinance more lenient than what the state would require.”  Eberle agreed to add the state language regarding drainage, tile mapping, and soil.

Livestock
The next issue addressed was regarding livestock. Commissioner Dennis Russcher thought the “prime farmland” definition should include information on animal concentration and feed lots. He said one of the biggest concerns is where to go with manure. Currently most of the ground being looked at for the project is under the Manure Management plan Russcher has with EGLE.

Russcher said not being able to send his animals' manure through a hose to the land would really change how he farms. If the land turns into a solar farm, it will take 10,000-gallon tankers to haul the manure off his farm by semi-truck, which will tear up the roads.

Eberle acknowledged the concern and asked the commissioners whether they wanted to address the issue in the ordinance or leave it to the private property owner to figure out. He suggested including space in the ordinance to identify and consider a threshold for livestock density.

Planner Lori Castell was tasked with finding benchmarks to compare with the Commission's remaining questions. Eberle will work on implementing the changes the Commission discussed and bring a revised draft to the next meeting.

Throughout the draft discussion, Eberle encouraged the commissions and worked to accommodate their vision.

“At the end of the day,” Eberle said to the Commission, “the board’s going to make the decision. But you’ve done your job to present clear arguments as to why you made the decision you did, and why you think that's the best decision.”

‍

Call to Action

In his closing comment, Commissioner Tim Miedema shared that he’d received emails from the Michigan Township Association regarding several House Bills that would take away more local control when it comes to regulating housing size, duplexes, lot sizes, and more.

Miedema encouraged residents to act, saying the issue is "somewhat urgent" and that the House is trying to push these bills through. He asked residents to visit the Michigan Township Association website—which has links to contact elected officials.

Miedema found it ironic that a project in Ottawa County is looking to cover up 1900 acres in solar panels even though the State knows we need more housing.

One of the final public comments was from a resident imploring all members of the Township Board to read the site plan. He was discouraged that some hadn’t since this is “the biggest issue this township has ever had.” He thanked the commissioners who had been researching. “We’re relying on the Planning Commission to save us.”

‍