ADA COUNTY — Work towards a new county zoning code is continuing as Ada County commissioners seek to determine how the county should respond to the development of future, large-scale solar projects.
The code change for the county is the first of its kind since 2000 and includes myriad changes including updated approval processes and new measures for water conservation. The focus since a public hearing in July, however, has continued to be on how the county will weigh the demand for increased renewable energy and the dwindling farmland acreage in the county.
”We want solar power but people don’t want it to affect their neighborhoods, whether they’re farmers or not,” commissioner Ryan Davidson said during a Wednesday meeting. “So that’s what we have to keep in mind. We do want to protect farmland but we’re overall trying to protect quality of life.”…