Peter Boogaart: Reflections on Ottawa County land use
"I encourage the commissioners, as interveners before the MPSC, to support construction of the solar project, insist that local questions are answered, demand full transparency and ask that the MPSC direct the parties to engage in mutually beneficial negotiations," columnist Peter Boogaart writes.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The views and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not of Ottawa News Network.
The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners met recently for a work session to assess whether to join, as an intervener, the Michigan Public Service Commission’s review process for the Silver Maple Solar project in Jamestown and Zeeland townships.
They voted on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at a full board meeting to file as an intervening party.
Public comment clearly supported the intervener option. It was common to hear about loss of local control, loss of "prime" agricultural land and negative impacts on neighbors and long-term relationships.
Such comments are well rooted in American tradition. The establishment of townships dates back to Thomas Jefferson and the Northwest Ordinance of 1785 and 1787. Township designation gave rural residents a means to resolve local issues.
About 240 years later, however, townships do not look the same. I doubt that Jefferson, the great agriculturalist, ever envisioned a township that had to deal with the Ottawa Executive Airport, major electrical transmission lines, complicated drainage plans or 40-home subdivisions marketed as rural living. Today, townships face issues that extend far beyond their 36-square-mile boundaries.
Ottawa County commissioners are trying to find a balance point between competing interests. The commission highlighted three values it intends to protect: farmland preservation, housing and stormwater management.
I applaud commissioners for recognizing the value of agriculture and rural living, but they still have a long way to go. Fifty percent of Ottawa County’s landmass — 170,000 acres — is presently agricultural. Only 9% of that farmland is protected by the Ottawa County Farmland Preservation Program.
In using projected overlay maps, county staff illustrated just how much pressure future housing needs will place on agricultural land. Silver Maple is not the last time this question will be asked. To preserve farmland, the commission needs to establish a boundary. In a long-term planning process, what percentage of farmland must be preserved as open farmland?
In the interest of preserving rural land, it is worth asking what the main threats to that land are. Three issues emerge: tight farm budgets, urban sprawl and industrialization. It is hard for family farmers to make enough money to compete with outside developers. One by one, farms turn over to other uses, and once that land is developed, it will never be farmland again.
So, back to the Silver Maple Solar project. If done right, solar is not the problem — it is the solution. It is a way to keep open land from being permanently developed. Monthly lease payments become a second income stream that allows a farm family to build a more secure future. In many cases, the value of the lease per acre exceeds the value of a crop.
Solar panels do not preclude the use of land for agricultural purposes. In fact, Public Act 233 — under which the PSC operates — encourages the continuation of agriculturally related activity:
"The proposed energy facility will not unreasonably diminish farmland, including, but not limited to, prime farmland and, to the extent that evidence of such farmland is available in the evidentiary record, farmland dedicated to the cultivation of specialty crops." (PA 233, Section 226(7)(f))
Additionally, the solar project becomes a property tax asset for local governments. Other townships apply this windfall income to delayed road repairs, park and recreation renovations, and postponed building upgrades.
If done right, this solar project also has the potential to improve the future productivity of the land itself. In fact, PA 233 calls for:
"Making a good-faith effort to maintain and provide proper care of the property where the energy facility is proposed to be located during construction and operation of the facility." ~ PA 233, Section 226(7)(d)
A typical lease will be in effect for about 25 years. That is 25 years for the soil to rest and regenerate. If the landowner chooses not to renew the lease, the company will remove the panels, and the land is once again open to full-scale agriculture.
There is no way around it: We are not living in a Jeffersonian world anymore. Nevertheless, townships are not without recourse. With savvy bargaining, they can protect their critical interests.
I encourage the commissioners, as interveners before the MPSC, to support construction of the solar project, insist that local questions are answered, demand full transparency and ask that the MPSC direct the parties to engage in mutually beneficial negotiations.
— Peter Boogaart is a resident of Zeeland.
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