Covington Twp. officials restricted where solar farms can be built by updating a zoning law.
Township supervisors agreed Tuesday to amend the zoning ordinance to limit large-scale solar electricity energy facilities to two zoning districts.
Under the revised ordinance, solar projects can be built only in the township’s M-1 and Data Center and Energy Technology District zones.
The M-1 zone allows for industrial development and restricts residential development, while the Data Center and Energy Technology District is for development of future data centers, related energy generation, distribution and storage, and technology/manufacturing campuses.
Developers need a conditional use permit and to submit a master plan detailing the project and existing land features in order to build a solar farm in either zone. Roof-mounted panels can’t exceed 5 feet.
The ordinance also provides guidance on building, operating and maintaining a solar farm within the township. It requires panels to be built 150 feet from properties and says solar farms must be licensed and subject to inspections, among other things.
Supervisor Chair Melissa Hughes Kearney said the zoning ordinance was initially updated to include solar facilities two years ago but allowed solar farms to be built anywhere in the township.
“We just decided that we wanted to amend that ordinance to allow them in … two particular areas of the township as opposed to allowing them throughout the township,” she said.
Kearney said the zones allow for solar farm development while keeping residents safe.
She said the township has not received any applications for solar farms but updated the zoning to be proactive if a developer does present plans for one.
“We definitely felt that it was necessary,” Kearney said. “We’re just trying to protect the residents from these large-scale facilities being placed throughout the township.”
Covington Twp. is one of several in North Pocono to approve ordinances addressing solar farm development. Madison Twp. supervisors approved an ordinance regulating their development around the same time Covington Twp. initially approved its solar development ordinance.
Other Lackawanna County municipalities that have put forward legislation in recent years regulating solar farms are Taylor and Mayfield.
Developers have proposed ground-mounted solar farms throughout Lackawanna County. Most of the proposed projects haven’t gone through.
Officials in Newton, Ransom and Greenfield townships rejected solar farm plans submitted there following resident opposition. The developers of all three proposed farms appealed officials’ decisions denying their plans. The developer in Greenfield Twp., New Leaf Energy of Lowell, Massachusetts, decided to withdraw its application following its appeal as it wasn’t financially feasible.
Appeals of the farms in Newton and Ransom townships remain ongoing.
Meanwhile, officials in Scott Twp. approved plans for two farms in recent years in different parts of the township.