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East Feliciana Police Jury approves new regulations for solar farms in parish
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CLINTON - More solar farm projects could be coming to East Feliciana Parish after the Police Jury approved new regulations governing where and how solar farm projects can be operated.
The East Feliciana Parish Police Jury says it currently has a contract with one company for a solar farm in the parish, and multiple companies are looking into getting one.
It believes that by adopting the ordinance, which had a couple of amendments added to the original ordinance Monday night, it could bring even more.
"They're going to be placed on private property, the parish can regulate the placement of the solar farms. By requiring some green frontage, they can require a certain fee," 20th JDC District Attorney Sam D'Aquilla told WBRZ.
Under the ordinance, once a company or group submits a permit application, it will pay the parish $5,000 for a solar farm that is 500 acres or less. If it is more than 500 acres, the fee rises to $10,000 plus an additional $5 for each acre in excess of 500.
"The Police Jury and the parish will benefit from solar farms in our area, by the ad valorem taxes they will pay after they're established, and the sales taxes they're going to pay on the equipment when it's purchased for the solar farm," D'Aquilla said.
However, D'Aquilla says East Feliciana has one of the lowest property tax rates in the state.
I asked several Police Jurors if they would ever consider increasing the tax rate to bring in more money.
"No. No," Jurors Chrissie O'Quinn and Louis Kent said.
One of the changes proposed at the meeting that was adopted was an addition to buffer zone regulations.
The plan for a proposed solar farm must include a buffer zone around the perimeter of the solar farm. The proposed solar farm must be at least 200 feet from the property line, which was originally just 75 feet. Another change was that the buffer zone shall now include a minimum of 100 feet of area of trees or shrubbery between the operational area of the solar farm.
WBRZ asked if this would be collected from the ad valorem tax.
"No, that would be at the expense of the company that is creating the solar farm. It would not be taxpayer money; it would be a portion that they would fund fully," Juryman Kyle Fleniken said.
Several residents brought up concerns at the public hearing, with some fearing the parish isn't making enough money on it compared to what it could be.
"During the last meeting, one of the jury members brought up the permit fee we proposed. The Washington Parish permit fee in their ordinance, which is 1% of the final construction cost. East Feliciana Parish is based on acreage. I propose rather than getting rid of construction cost and acreage, charging by the solar panel, and I used two cents per solar panel as an example," Parish resident Debbie Kemp said.
The development standards and regulations also require that the company have traffic and drainage plans, such as including a hydrologic and hydraulic analysis that establishes the solar farm will not have any impacts on the parish drainage system or adjacent property owners.
The proposal for a solar farm must also include a decommissioning plan once the solar farm has ceased operations and address maintenance, secured access and lighting, and economic impact.
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