AriSEIA Sends 5th Letter to Yavapai on the Solar Ordinance Draft

Yavapai County Board of Supervisors
1015 Fair Street
Prescott, AZ 86305
 
RE: November 6th Board of Supervisors Meeting, Hearing No. 4, Section 608 Solar Facilities Zoning Ordinance  
 
Chairman and Supervisors,
 
AriSEIA recommends that the Board of Supervisors delay a vote on the revised Solar Ordinance because:

• The Ordinance is in conflict with the County’s own Comprehensive Plan,
• The Draconis Project, which is in Chino Valley and not subject to the County’s Ordinance has created confusion as to the terms of the Ordinance, and
• County Staff has stated that the Ordinance and its numerous restrictions will apply on public land, which was never addressed during the stakeholder process.

 
Additionally, this Ordinance is in conflict with economic development opportunities in the County and water conservation. Even a single solar project would generate ~$16.8 million in tax revenues during the life of the project and the total economic output from a single project over its life would be ~$201 million.[1] Solar uses much less water than other types of electricity generation and less water than alternative land uses.[2]
 
This Ordinance is essentially a de fact solar moratorium. It includes a cap on solar development of 10,000 acres in a county with more than five million acres; thereby limiting solar development to a fraction of a percent of the County’s land, a restriction that does not appear to exist for any other industries. Additionally, numerous issues from our initial letters and redlines are still outstanding:

• The acreage caps are extreme both on a per project and on an aggregate basis,
• The setbacks are onerous and unreasonable, and
• The waiver provision creates veto power for a single County employee.

 
Additional comments on the final draft are included as Attachment A.
 
Comprehensive Plan
The Ordinance as drafted is inconsistent with the Yavapai County Comprehensive Plan. Arizona law establishes baseline requirements for county comprehensive plans including the “planning for energy use that: encourages and provides incentives for the efficient use of energy [and] identifies policies and practices for greater use of renewable energy.”[3] Arizona law requires the comprehensive plan’s purpose and effect “shall be primarily as an aid to the county planning and zoning commission and to the board of supervisors in the performance of their duties.”[4] “The zoning ordinance and all rezonings and zoning regulations amendments under this article shall be consistent with and conform to the adopted comprehensive plan.”[5]
 
The 10,000 acre cap is in conflict with the County’s Comprehensive Plan, which was adopted in 2023. The Energy Element of the Comprehensive Plan “promotes the use of clean energy sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biofuels.”[6] The Plan is intended to “identify policies and practices that increase the use of renewable energy sources.”[7] It goes on to say that “[t]hrough the Energy Element, the County can encourage the efficient use of energy and promote clean, renewable energy production.”[8] Finally, the Plan also says the County will “[a]dvocate for the development of renewable energy sources that are not water intensive.”[9] The acreage caps are arbitrary and will inhibit, not promote, solar development in Yavapai County. Additionally, the onerous and unreasonable setbacks are also at odds with the Comprehensive Plan.
 
Waiver Provision
The waiver clause in Section 608(D)(2)(g) stipulates a two-tier review process. Presently, this clause grants veto power to both the Development Services Director and the Board. We suggest limiting this discretion solely to the Board for these projects. We propose rephrasing the language to state: “If the waiver request proposal is deemed to be complete and in compliance with the above tenets by the Development Services Director, the waiver request will be submitted for consideration as part of the final application to the Board of Supervisors.”  
 
Bureau of Land Management (Federal Land)
Almost 75% of Yavapai County is public land, with nearly half of that being federal land. The Ordinance conflicts with the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) updated 2012 Western Solar Plan.[10] The BLM oversees over 19 million acres of public land for utility-scale solar production, including in Arizona. The updated 2024 Plan emphasizes locating solar projects within 15 miles of existing or planned transmission corridors to minimize environmental and cultural impacts.[11] Yavapai County contains BLM's section 368 energy corridor, ideal for solar development due to its proximity to transmission lines, as well as significant planned transmission zones.[12]
​
Conclusion
There are numerous outstanding legal considerations for the County before it moves forward with this Ordinance, including conflicts with its own Comprehensive Plan and the relationship between the Ordinance and State and Federal land. Please either modify the per project acreage cap and eliminate the aggregate County acreage cap or postpone the vote until these issues can be resolved.
 
Respectfully,
Autumn Johnson
Executive Director
AriSEIA 
(520) 240-4757
[email protected]

[1] See Attachment B.

[2] See Attachment C.

[3] Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 11-804(B) (4) (a-b) (2024).

[4] Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 11-804(A) (2024).

[5] Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 11-811(A) (2024).

[6] Comprehensive Plan Update 2023, Yavapai County Government, Section 8.0, P.101, available here https://www.yavapaiaz.gov/files/sharedassets/public/v/1/development-and-permits/development-services/documents/yavapai_cty_comp_plan.pdf (emphasis added).

[7] Id. (emphasis added).

[8] Id. (emphasis added).

[9] Id. at 108 (emphasis added).

[10] Natural Resources Defense Council, BLM’s Solar Plan: Balancing Efficiency, Flexibility, and Conservation, Aug. 27, 2024, available here https://www.nrdc.org/bio/josh-axelrod/blms-solar-plan-balancing-efficiency-flexibility-and-conservation#:~:text=With%20the%20FPEIS%2C%20the%20BLM,accelerating%20the%20clean%20energy%20transition.

[11] Id.

[12] U.S. Department of the Interior, Solar Programmatic EIS Proposed Plan in Arizona, Aug. 2024, available here https://eplanning.blm.gov/public_projects/2022371/200540728/20118384/251018364/Final%20Solar%20PEIS%20Proposed%20Plan%20Arizona%20map.pdf. See Attachment D. 

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