27 July 2026 Dearborn County Plan Commission Meeting Notes

 27 July 2026 Dearborn County Plan Commission Meeting Notes

This was a 3 hour meeting. 

The video of this is on the county YouTube channel. Sam Mortenson also videod this meeting.

Present: Mark Lehman, Acting Chairman, Russell Beiersdorfer, Sabrina Gregory, Joe Vogel, Jake Hoog, Eric Lang, and Jim Thatcher.

ABSENT: Dennis Kraus, Jr, and Dan Lansing

Also Present:  Nicole Daily, Planning and Zoning Director, and Andy Baudendistel, Attorney, Duane Bischoff, Commissioner

Baudendistel read the Title VI statement as legally required.

ACTION ON MINUTES-February 23, 2026 and April 27, 2026 - Approved both. 

OLD BUSINESS – NONE 

NEW BUSINESS – 1. Request: Primary Plat for Franklin Subdivision—13 Lot Major Subdivision Request: Waiver on a 100% reduction of sidewalk requirements Applicant: JDJ Surveying and Engineering LLC Owner: Gregory Gavin Site Location: Henderson Road Parcel: 15-01-27-300-007.000-018 Township: Logan Size: 11.778 acres 

Nicole Daily presented: R-2 existing zone. 0.61 acres is smallest lot on the proposal. 40 mph local street classification.12 lots facing proposed roadway- 605 linear ft. One lot has frontage along Henderson Rd. Street will be filing for county acceptance of the road when completed. There needs to be 80% completion for that. Letters from - Water, sewer, gas, and electric plus school district. No letter form Bright Fire or EMS. Waiver of sidewalk requirement is being requested. This would have been on one side of the road. Letters sent out and one email received and in their packets. Lots 1,2, and 13 limited to one driveway. Name for the street is already used in county’s it has to be changed. There are no driveway spacing requirements on a local street. Crossroads said it would be up to the developer to access the mains as they do not have any on Henderson there. 

Jeff Stenger- Surveyor spoke for the applicant.He addressed sewer as having options in a couple ways to do this. Old Orchard has sidewalks - but there is no way to connect to them from here. Crossroads has sewer near there and so does DCRSD- Capacity though comes from Old Orchard??? 

PUBLIC DISCUSSION:

Jeff Martin 2210 Old Orchard Dr.  - resident of Old Orchard for over 20 years. Loves it. Curbs, gutters, matching mailboxes, coach lights etc. These are going to be higher end homes at 2/3 acre. Old Orchard is 1/3 acre. So sidewalks etc would be good. Biggest concern- rainwater. The cornfield and forest drains thru my yard. Erosion thru forest. He’s near lot 11 on the proposed one. Rainwater flow and green space are his concerns mostly. Wants it to continue as a higher end neighbor. Their lift station.

Mark Doughty- 2 doors up from Jeff Martin. Green space is his concern. Nothing behind him right now. If they take forest out would like them to add green space there. 

Close Public Discussion

Jeff Stenger- Intend to leave as many trees as possible. Now with MS4 the open ditch with a subdivision will help filter out the water. The curb and gutter would have filters and too much to maintain. There is a detention pond. He acknowledges the ag cornfield would be running water faster than hayfield or mowed grass. Overall maintenance will fall to county with an easement for access to the detention pond. Will mention lighting to Gavin- as he likes to do nice things. 

Nicole Daily- If county maintains it there needs to be an escrow account- so needs an HOA. This gets discussed at the improvement plan stage. Lots 11, 12, and 13 would be responsible for that detention pond. Stenger said he usually makes the lot be on one or the other where the outlet structure is. They will have specific guidelines on the plat. 

Lang- cited several reasons not to do a sidewalk in this situation. 

Gregory- was asking for a landscape option for buffer area if they cut down trees. 

Stenger asked about setback on detention pond - Daily typically 30 ft. 

Several points between them before getting back to the podium so all could hear on the record.  Bottom line- with a waiver- it’s open season on what they can tack on. 

Beiersdorfer- motioned to grant the waiver on requiring sidewalks as it’s been done in other areas of the county. Lang seconded. All approved the waiver. 

Eric Lang does not want to arbitrarily require a buffer in there and will shove detention basin further north tho someones home.  

Eric Lang motioned to approve the subdivision with the conditions that tech review required limit 1,12, 13 to one driveway, and specifics on the detention area and one other condition. Plus a fire and EMS letter must be submitted  for service per regulations of out code.  Beiersdorfer 2nded. All Approved.

*********Daily- asked a question of the board regarding a possible application to get max allowed minor subdivision lots instead of the few they had platted prior to the ordinance change forbidding minor subdivisions in Ag zone.This granting is usually done in house and not at a board meeting BUT……******** [NOTE: This request could trigger one or two issues- one is that others in AG Zone can request this also if allowed. Two- it points out the legal problem with no longer allowing Ag zones to do minor subdivisions, which hampers family farm operations when generations pass on the property.] 

  

ADMINISTRATIVE— • Solar Ordinance text amendment—review collected information, citizen comments, legal issues, draft ordinances, etc. • Exhibits to illustrate different suggested development standards on basic properties

Nicole Daily presented:

5 minutes on the setback pictures on large pieces of paper that board had - but no one else did. 

Overlay district options- including still being able to do Ag as it is the underlying district.

20 acres as ???

Rezone notification would be 500ft for overlay districts. 

$8500 initial deposit for escrow. Has to be immediately raised to $5,000 if it gets below $2500.

Defined-  Renewable Energy Overlay District. 

Enhanced processes for Conditional Uses. This would go thru BZA and increased notifications to 500 ft adjoiners. 

Added hiring consultant- hired by county and paid for by applicant.

Daily does not like overlay versus conditional use. She thinks Overlay District is weak and conditional use has teeth because of conditions. 

Defined various sizes of the solar farms from small to larger and private to community to public utility. 

Beiersdorfer- sees no problem with the solar definitions - they are improvement over what we had.

Overlay district - he prefers conditional use. 

Land  agrees on BZA conditional use.

Hoog- wants on a community one- that if there is more than they use- can they sell the excess? Community should get the funds if they sell it- needs to be in the standards. He also agrees with conditional use instead of overlay.

Gregory- Max size needs to be considered. Cited Madison County example. 

Lang asked about where the definitions came in- sources?

Expert review- is this based on cell tower ordinance. YES 

Discussion about how long it takes to get thru cell tower applications. (2 years?)

OPEN FOR PUBLIC DISCUSSION:

Michelle Dudley- Manchester resident. Shared testimony last meeting. Blvd Assoc LLC owned by Nextera Energy. No longer operational. Nextera is owner of Linnea Energy. Nextera owned Florida and Georgia Power. They get funding and incentives for starting these. Linnea has not brought any to completion. Brooks County GA issues. Distance alone cannot solve the problem. Wants the PC to uphold protection of public.

 Nick  Kirkland- Appraiser- not from county-  speak on ordinance change as experienced. It is possible to design an ordinance to protect property values. We look at distance and adjoining properties. Closest pt of home to inverter or panel. 150-250 ft with evergreen vegetative buffer Looking on a case by case basis. Looking at homes right near the solar facility for value comparisons. 

Sawyer Keithley- Economic impact and tax benefits. From Illinois. Have done over 700 reports over 40 states. 100 MgWatt- 80 new jobs for construction and 5 new long term jobs. $7 million during construction $13 million in output and $1 million in longer output. $600,000 taxes here locally. Should a solar farm be sold to utility- would have larger personal property value- for taxes. Individual farms for solar- they do take a percentage. ( did not specify public owned utility or privately owned. 

100 MgWatt 500-700 acres. 

Sabrina Gregory- 2022 numbers presented-

• 490,623 farm acres has declined here.  She presented soil maps and other info to the board that she had researched. 

Gillian Collins- horse farm here- worked in corporate Finance for Fortune 500 companies for 15 years. She knows how these companies work- proposals laden with buried issues. Their job is to build these developments as fast and as cheaply as possible. These companies are not charities - they have to minimize cost and maximize shares. Linnea - Texas solar build too. Solar and BESS.

Ken Scherzinger- North Hogan Rd- Farming background extensive. 2498?  people signed petitions. How nay signed one to be pro solar here? We have made our position clear. Draft an ordinance that protects the county. Do we have to fit solar in here no matter what. 

Jim Thatcher said that everything will be dictated by facts. Listening to the people. 

Joel Esselman-  Manchester- Why HERE? Of all the places across this country ? When and how was this decision made. We drove to Rush and Henry Counties. 2 things stood out. Rt 3 thru open farmland.Had. difficult time finding it. 1400 acre solar field not visible from the main road. That is different from here. We heard a steady humming noise. We enjoy our peace and don’t want to lose it. Private property rights are not absolute. May leasers do not live on the property. 2025- no longer fund solar on productive farm land. Prime farmland should NOT be displaced by green energy solar farms. Trump also criticized these solar and wind farms. We cannot get our farmland back after the solar farm is there. Property owners bear the impacts but the profits flow elsewhere. 

Ken Townsend-Cincinnati- represents Linnea-a well crafted ordinance can address legitimate concerns. Legal challenges aside- and can drive economics away from here. Reduced tax revenue and lost opportunities.Too rigid standards will be vulnerable. Opposition to these regulations and narrowly tailor them. Don’t create unnecessary barriers. Linnea is a responsible developer. He cannot answer the allegations presented tonight.

Rhett Dennerline- worked in Chicago 25 years. Did not see them maps you were given tonight. Ordinance should not be based on one project and how the lines line up. Set backs - Whitley County- 1500 ft, Rush 1320 ft. Spenser 100- ft. Huntington Allen 1000, Wabash 1320. Jasper 800 DeKalb- 1000. So these numbers are not crazy numbers. You see solar in these states with larger farms. They can keep the further from neighbors. Also stressed topography like rolling hill needed setbacks. 

Travis Snyder- Wind and Sky Apiaries- Trying to get bee population back to where they need to be. Unsprayed under solar panels so the bees have a good area Bees go for miles 5 miles. Was a veteran - it helps with vets and first responders to deal with PTSD. Bees help with that.  It’s an investment in the community as well.

Robert Rauen- speaking on behalf of myself and the Stop Solar Group. Supports Conditional Use that Daily talked about. APA - the Plan Commission duties were defined. First evaluate Solar as a land use issue. Location is the most important factor. As many adverse impacts can be mitigated. If they cannot be- then it is not compatible with the county. They should not take Ag land for power generation. The Master Plan does NOT have this in it. Page 124 says to designate areas for certain uses of land. Benefit the community and mitigate impacts.P 150 - Encourage development ONLY where  adequate infrastructure exists. Not use Ag land.

919 acres of existing industrial and commercial land is available. One solar farm would use all of this. You are not supposed to make every proposed use fit in the county. 

Rauen -Joking with Lehman regarding getting it done in 5 minutes versus the 10 minutes their sign says was allowed if speaking for a group.

Ed Yelton- Manchester Resident- long term. The ordinance will affect your children’s grandchildren. This company started this with out permits. Just remember- we are all going to be judged for this. 

Jessica Schneider- Manchester- especially concerned about this affecting Veterans and children with autism. Concern with noise and sounds that can trigger PTSD. Concerned with conflict of interest with several speakers here tonight that are compensated by the Solar Industry. Consider residents rather than outside corporates. 

Gina Zarnstorff- Florida-worked on solar projects across the country. Scientists such as myself spend hours walking over the land studying. Environmental data sets and DNR etc are evaluated. All that info is used to help the project avoid environmentally sensitive areas. Try to protect wildlife. Grasses and wildflowers are planted on some sites. This can improve soil health. Have seen sheep grazing to recently. Not every location is suitable. When they are done- they can be beneficial. 

Sam Mortenson- Manchester- 2 questions. If the developer sells the solar to a utility does it change the tax? Do utilities pay taxes? Board did not know for sure. [NOTE: Publicly owned  utilities are treated differently than Private ones.] 

Also who paid consultants that came tonight?

Amanda Thompson- Read through the Linnea consultants from tonight that she researched.

These are paid by corporate entities whose sole point is to promote this solar development. 

Significantly ignoring the farmers affected.

1.7%-7% property value drop in 1 mile area of solar farm.

6000 acres - examples of solar she has seen

850 acres example of solar in Indiana

Stacy Craig- Manchester- real estate agent. Has seen a 4% negative adjustment for property under a solar lease here.Legal case? Some have relied on local realtors on these property value cases. Has anyone consulted appraisers on our county’s set backs. 

Michael Townsend - Wisconsin-on behalf of Linnea- Safety- Jensen Hughes- hold 340 positions on NFPA standards committees. Fire, electrical, and building safety. 40 years of change on solar. Special firefighter training is needed for solar. It is not hard to train- it uses standard fire fighting equipment. 

Jim Red Elk- Manchester- laundry list from neighbors- Linnea has website crossroadssolarcoalition.com should be looked at. There should not be any NDAs. Rural life needs to be defended by zoning. Property rights- but when negative uses are proposed how to handle. These people don’t really know our values when they come in from outside. Threats of lawsuits heard by county officials- where is that coming from? Concerned about loss of farmland and groundwater contamination, installation process. The Cons are more numerous than the positives for this land use. 

Closed Public Discussion

Nicole Daily- Staff will continue to work on conditional use for the August meeting. Also the standards- setbacks etc. 

Eric Lang- What IF- they violate - how to enforce 

Jake Hoog- Noise study? - how to do that. Get independent companies to test noise. Get a baseline. Escrow account to cover these issues- for enforcement. 

Sabrina Gregory- Can create stringent ordinance -NSCS- 2019- 49,000 acres in farms and where Prime Farmland is. Overlay for ground mounted solar and where these metals affect soil. 

Beiersdorfer: has studied soils- Class 1 Ground- only in Greendale.

Class 2 Ground- slope and drainage.

Nicole Daily -August meeting- 4 of the consultants from out of town have requested to be on that meeting with extended time.

There is also a case at that meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 9:07 PM

Christine Brauer Mueller

Lawrenceburg Township