A long struggle to regulate the solar industtry in Washington Parish was finally successful last week when the parish council voted unanimously to approve a new solar ordinance.
The ordinance is expected to provide more protection to residents who live in proxmity of “solar farms” --- large-scale projects where solar panels generate electricity for re-sale.
Residents first became concerned when a solar farm was placed off of Highway 16 west of Franklinton several years ago. An additional solar farm was soon proposed for a nearby area. And more recently, other solar projects have been considered for other areas of the parish.
At the urging of a group of local citizens, the parish council began considering some sort of regulation of the solar industry in Washington Parish, finally resulting in the ordinance passed last week. The vote was unaminous, with one councilman absent.
Suppporters of the proposed ordinance were pleased that it was enacted. One of the supporters, Ben Sarro, wrote a letter to The Era-Leader offering his commentary on the council’s vote. His letter follows:
Editor, The Era-Leader:
The April 14th Washington Parish Council meeting should go into the history of Washington Parish. The parish council voted into law Ordinance 22-707, the Utility Scale Solar Project Facility Standards Ordinance.
This piece of legislation demonstrates two very important events. The first is its being the most comprehensive set of regulations regarding the solar industry in our parish and possibly our state. There is little to no doubt that our efforts will be studied and duplicated within our state and other states as well. Secondly, it is almost a textbook rendition of local government and local citizenry working together to produce a fair compromise. It is a very good example of how representative governing should work.
Of course, there are those that are not entirely happy about what the ordinance contains and what it does not. That is the nature of compromise. No one side gets everything.
The efforts of the council, Carley King, Reginald McMasters, Kim Wagner, Clark Henry, Joe Culpepper, Shawn Rice, and Rusty Fornea are well appreciated. The almost Herculean task of taking the draft material to fruition was ably carried out by Mr. Wayne Kuhn, the council attorney. He shepherded this document through its reworking, with environmental attorneys in Baton Rouge, to its final form. He put in hours of conference calls and reporting to the council on the progress of the document. He also answered many questions in council meetings. His efforts are very much appreciated. Also, Ms Sarah Cook, the council’s clerk, accomplished her fair share of the lifting. She produced all the materials needed for the meetings and for the public. As one who is accustomed to paperwork, this is a lonely time-consuming task and she handled it all.
I want to note the efforts of the Citizens Activist Group that contributed our own draft and worked with the council to address the concerns of those who are affected by this industry. Many thanks to Mr & Mrs Wilson LaGraize, Mr & Mrs John & Jennifer Brown, Mr & Mrs Nick & Lori Smith, Ms Tiffany Hawkins, Ms Lynnette Sharp, Mr Darwin Sharp, Mr Joey Roberts, Ms Tammy Fucich, Mr & Mrs Chris & Vonda Waskom, and myself and my wife, Paulette. We spent many hours in discussions, research and drafting our efforts to bring to bear our concerns and the concerns of others we heard from over this industry.
The essence of this ordinance is that the solar people, who are “come-heres” to our parish, be good neighbors. Their presence and their industry has caused a disruption in the way of life and of the livelihoods that have been in place for many, many years. We are hopeful that when they are making future decisions, regarding their operations in our communities and our parish, that they do no harm.
Ben M Sarro
Franklinton
