AriSEIA Submits Redlines on the Mohave County Solar Ordinance

Mohave County Planning and Zoning Commission
Development Services Department
P.O. Box 7000
Kingman, AZ 86402
 
RE: April 10th  Planning and Zoning Meeting, Agenda Item 17, Evaluation of a Request to Amend the Mohave County Zoning Ordinance Section 12.2, Energy Overlay (E) Zone; Section 37.4, Special Uses, and Section 37.U, Energy Projects.
 
Supervisors, Commissioners, and Staff,
 
AriSEIA is the State’s nonprofit solar, storage, and electrification trade association. We are active at all levels of government in Arizona, working to advance renewables policy. We worked heavily on Eloy’s 2023 ordinance and are currently working with Yavapai County and Pinal County on similar processes. We spoke to the Mohave County Board of Supervisors when the Moratorium was passed last fall. We also presented an economic impact analysis completed by Elliott Pollack and have included that here as Attachment B for your convenience.
 
We have also attached redlines of the proposed Ordinance here as Attachment A. We encourage you to make a few small modifications before submitting this to the Board of Supervisors for a vote. However, when the final version is voted on, we encourage you to replace the existing Moratorium with the new ordinance as soon as possible.
 
Our two biggest concerns with the proposed Mohave Ordinance are the one mile buffer zone and the amount of time (12 months) that triggers decommissioning. We suggest a quarter mile buffer zone and a force majeure clause for decommissioning, as there are reasons why there may be a 12+ month delay that are not the result of abandonment.
 
We would be happy to participate in any stakeholder process the County implements to finalize this Ordinance. Thank you for your time and consideration.
 
Respectfully,
 
/s/ Autumn T. Johnson
Executive Director
AriSEIA 
(520) 240-4757
[email protected]