Plan Commission Holds Work Session on Solar Farm Rules

Two different citizen-led proposals have been submitted. One was at the forefront of discussions on Monday.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – Another meeting was held in Dearborn County on Monday evening regarding zoning changes to regulate solar projects.

The Dearborn County Plan Commission held a work session for over four hours to discuss an alternative draft ordinance that was submitted on October 14 by Laureen White on behalf of concerned citizens within the county. 

There was no public comment during the work session. 

The citizens’ proposal includes project-size and separation limits, which differs from the county's draft ordinance which currently sets a maximum of 1,200 acres. 

The citizens' proposal also seeks a property protection program for homeowners who could potentially see their property values decrease due to nearby solar farms. The county's current draft ordinance calls for solar equipment to be at least 200 feet from neighboring homes. 

Nicole Dailey on the citizens' proposal: 

“There’s a lot of inconsistencies. There’s not a clear permitting process. It’s not a clear conditional use process. I can go through it item by item, but as written I wouldn’t recommend it. If there’s things that you wish to pull out of it; we could talk about that.”

A second alternative ordinance proposal was submitted on Monday by a group identified as Concerned Dearborn County Citizens. This proposal emphasizes protections for neighboring property owners and the county’s rural character. Noise protection is a central concern of this proposal, which is not linked to the proposal submitted on October 14.

The Plan Commission did not vote on Monday. The next scheduled meeting is November 12, when a vote could happen.

The vote would not be for an approval or denial. It would be for a recommendation to county commissioners

“We are not voting on a project. It is the ordinance and not a project,” said Dailey.

RELATED: Dearborn Co. Commissioners Approve One Year Moratorium on Solar Farms

The Dearborn County Board of Commissioners voted in favor of a 12-month moratorium on the processing of applications for commercial solar farms and battery storage facilities in February. 

The moratorium came after a representative from Linea Energy proposed a solar and battery storage development on 1,000 acres in the Manchester area. 

You can see Monday's work session in its entirety at Plan Commision 10/26/26