Maryland looks to preserve more than 1,100 acres to protect against development and solar farms

Harford County is shifting to protect 1,110 acres of agricultural land to satisfy its objective of preserving 75,000 acres by 2040 as photo voltaic farms pose mounting stress for land use throughout the state.

The 1,110 acres for preservation are outlined in 19 resolutions launched to the Harford County Council in October. If all are handed, Harford County might pay as a lot as $7,128,116 to property house owners to protect land in Havre de Grace, Bel Air, Jarrettsville, Aberdeen, White Corridor, Darlington, Whiteford and Avenue.

Per the county constitution, qualifying landowners can apply to have their land preserved by way of the county’s Agricultural Preservation Program that has preserved greater than 64,000 acres in Harford to this point. This system eliminates all improvement rights for every property and secures its use for agricultural functions solely.

Throughout a public listening to for the resolutions Tuesday, the county’s director of planning and zoning, Shane Grimm, stated land preservation is an efficient strategy to shield greenspace from not solely housing and improvement, however the quickly rising recognition of solar farms.

“One of the most important things we are dealing with now is the onslaught of solar farms that are trying to come in all across the state—particularly in Harford County,” Grimm stated. “By preserving these properties, it makes it exponentially more durable for them to get these properties for solar development.”

Lately, photo voltaic farms—areas of agricultural land occupied by solar panels—have turn into a preferred various for landowners to earn a better earnings off their land by way of means exterior of farming.

Photo voltaic farms referred to as Neighborhood Photo voltaic Vitality Producing Techniques, launched by the Basic Meeting in Maryland by way of a pilot program in 2015, are rising in recognition.

The legislation states that property house owners—not electrical corporations—can construct group photo voltaic power producing methods on their property so long as the property is concurrently getting used for solar power and a farming exercise acknowledged by the Division of Agriculture as agricultural.

Every system is related to {the electrical} distribution grid serving the state. Electrical corporations then use the power generated by the methods to offset purchases from wholesale electrical energy suppliers—offering earnings to the mission property house owners and permitting power suppliers to cut back client prices.

Per state laws, group photo voltaic methods can not exceed 5 megawatts and at the least 40% of the power output should serve low- to moderate-income subscribers.

Home Invoice 908, handed final 12 months, made the state’s pilot photo voltaic program everlasting and eliminated a statewide megawatt cap of 418 megawatts to permit for limitless statewide group solar energy technology—resulting in a rise statewide in Neighborhood Photo voltaic Vitality Producing Techniques.

Maryland is certainly one of 19 states and Washington, D.C., to permit group photo voltaic tasks. At the moment, New York leads the nation in group photo voltaic with greater than 1,940 megawatts in operation.

4 Neighborhood Photo voltaic Vitality Producing Techniques are shifting by way of Harford County’s improvement course of with two of the 4 having already obtained web site plan approval.

A rising concern amongst land use officers in Harford County is that the Basic Meeting will strip counties of their oversight of group photo voltaic methods as native governments can not regulate photo voltaic farms bigger than the group photo voltaic tasks outlined in state laws.

Photo voltaic tasks within the state have been controversial, with tasks in Carroll County receiving pushback from native leaders and residents. In July 2023, Carroll County commissioners adopted an ordinance that prohibits solar-generating services on farmland. The ordinance permits for the development of photo voltaic services on land zoned for business and industrial use.

Harford Councilman and Maryland Affiliation of Counties consultant Aaron Penman stated Tuesday through the public listening to that one of many 4 foremost priorities of MACo is getting a deal with on photo voltaic farms.

He stated he spoke with a farmer who stated he receives roughly $200 per acre of land that he rents for farming per 12 months. Penman referred to as photo voltaic builders “aggressive” as he stated they’re providing farmers as a lot as $7,000 per acre, per 12 months with a 2.5% escalator—making photo voltaic farms a financially viable possibility for landowners.

“That, for anyone, is very hard to turn down, so we have to have some sort of plan in place to stop these from happening,” Penman stated.

To additional encourage Harford land house owners to protect their land, Harford County created a bonus system for property house owners that grants a further $1,000 to $3,000 per acre to property house owners preserving land in sought-after improvement areas.

Nevertheless, because the county strikes to extend its incentives for property house owners to fight photo voltaic farms, county officers are additionally evaluating potential incentives for photo voltaic builders to construct on land that’s already developed quite than agricultural land.

“What we would like to do is look at incentivizing the use of solar in redevelopment areas, for example, large buildings which have rooftops that aren’t being used for anything and parking lots,” Grimm stated.

Kristin Kirkwood, the manager director of the Harford Land Belief—the county’s solely non-government group devoted to land conservation—stated Tuesday that the land belief helps the resolutions as land preservation is one thing all county residents agree on.

“Land preservation is the only permanent way to restrict what would otherwise be never-ending sprawl,” Kirkwood stated. “The natural beauty of Harford County, the working lands that sustain us, and our beloved public spaces and rural landscapes that anchor our traditions are treasures that transcend politics and resonate with anyone who is lucky enough to call Harford County their home.”

The Harford County Council will vote on the 19 agricultural preservation resolutions throughout a future assembly that has not been decided right now.

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