Lexington’s Urban County Planning Commission recommended against a proposed zoning amendment that would allow development of ground-mounted solar farms in Fayette County’s agricultural zones.
The amendment was proposed by Silicon Ranch, a Nashville-based energy company looking to install an 800-acre solar farm near the Clark County border.
Company representatives argued solar development would be compatible with agricultural use, and would lease out sheep to graze the land under the panels.
Daniel Bell, a shepherd who owns Hazelbrook Farm in Lancaster County, works with the company.
“As a farmer, I love it. I know there’s a lot of discussion about soil, but when you’re returning all the carbon back to the soil, that’s how the Great Plains were made,” Bell said.
Agriculture advocacy group Fayette Alliance argued against the proposal. Executive director Brittany Roethemeier says such developments would pollute the “prime soils” the Bluegrass region is known for, and that such installations would be better suited to rooftops or already-developed land.