The Fayette Township planning commission is reviewing an ordinance that could prevent the installation of solar panels on 1,350 acres of farmland, the board said at a Feb. 17 meeting.
Chicago-based solar company Ranger Power is seeking approval to build the Heartwood Solar II project north of the City of Hillsdale, along U.S. 12 and White Road. But the local planning commission is considering a Compatible Renewable Energy Ordinance, or CREO, that would allow the township to set its own zoning rules for new renewable energy facilities. The project comes as part of the state of Michigan’s 2023 Green Energy Initiative, which aims for the state to use 100% clean energy by 2040.
“I’m just somebody who bought a lot of land and spent a lot of money to enjoy what life I have left and give to my kids and grandkids, not to be around these solar panels,” Jonesville resident Dennis Rhoniy said at the meeting.
If Fayette Township were to establish a CREO, the solar company could go to the state and get the Heartwood II Project approved through that channel. Brady Friss, a Ranger Power development manager overseeing the project, told The Collegian Jan. 29 that it is not the company’s intention to do that, though it is not “a 100% certainty that it is totally off the table.”
“It is an option that the developer ultimately has to go through,” Friss said. “It is a very long, costly process that doesn’t always benefit everybody.”
Friss said the project alone will generate $20 million in tax revenue for the township which would go toward new infrastructure, schools, and emergency services.
Hillsdale resident Toni Carpenter said she is concerned for the health of her grown children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, as long-term effects of solar panels and pesticide sprays used in their installation remain unknown.
“I’m concerned about the environmental effect of all this. I’m worried about the health aspect of it,” Carpenter said. “They didn’t know that was going to happen when they put power lines in. And they don’t know what’s going to happen with these things either.”
Jonesville resident Chester Briner said at the meeting he is worried about losing the view and value of his property and those of surrounding properties to the solar panels.
“People are going to have to have these wrapped around our property and reassess our property,” Briner said. “I believe that it’s going to cause the values of their properties to fall, because we got solar panels on both sides of Jonesville.”
Elizabeth Mann said the solar panels would be installed across the street from her property in Hillsdale. After her family’s home burned down two years ago, she and her family have resided in Allen Township with the intention of rebuilding their home. She now worries about the health effects and view of the solar panels from their property.
“Nobody wants that in their backyard or their front yard. We have a large pond in our backyard. It’s been fabulous. We fish there. Our grandchildren swim there. We won’t be doing that anymore, because they’re going to be spraying pesticides across the street that’s going to run right across the road, into my yard,” Mann said in the meeting. “Why build a house? Why come here if this is what we have to look forward to? It’s like losing my home twice.”
The board will hold a public hearing on a CREO and submit a recommendation to the township board at a date and time that is yet to be determined. Planning Commission Chair Jane Munson said she expects the public notice will be printed in the Hillsdale Daily News and posted at the township hall within the next few days. That starts a 15-day clock before the planning commission can hold the public hearing.
