St. Joseph County Council passes ordinance to ensure property values near solar farms

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. (WNDU) — There’s a new requirement in effect for St. Joseph County, and it starts right now.

In a narrow 5-4 vote, St. Joseph County Council members approved an ordinance pertaining to companies looking to build solar farms.

County Council President Dan Schaetzle says those companies will now have to follow certain steps.

“They would have to guarantee the property values for homeowners in a one-mile radius of that solar facility,” Schaetzle says.

Before a building can even start, the companies are responsible for having the market value appraised.

The protections for the homeowner don’t stop there.

If the value of their home decreases in the future, the company will have to pay the difference or buy the property at the predetermined value.

Schaetzle says homeowner opposition to the Hexagon Energy project in North Liberty last year inspired this proposal.

“When you have solar panels on two, three sides of your home, most people don’t want that,” Schaetzle says. “They want to live in that bucolic countryside area of North Liberty, so we’re trying to protect home values, really.”

Again, these new rules are in effect now and apply to all projects larger than 40,000 square feet.

Schaetzle also hopes this will lead to a shift in where these farms are built.

“I’m not necessarily anti-solar, but I think it should be more in industrial areas where it doesn’t affect home values,” he says. “That would also be something I would like to see.”

It is important to note this only applies to projects moving forward.

Schaetzle says there are four companies currently applying for permits, and since their process has already begun the new ordinance does not apply to them.

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