The arrays will still be allowed in agricultural and industrial areas once the currently enacted moratorium is lifted, and those who wish to place ground solar on their land anywhere in town will be required to apply for special use permits, which would ultimately be approved or denied by the Board of Adjustment based on a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission.

As Mayor/Acting City Administrator Joel Greer opened a public hearing on the matter, 4th Ward City Council candidate Mark Eaton opined that he felt the baby was being thrown out with the bathwater. He believed leaving the moratorium in place would allow more time to iron out the details of a new ordinance that would “make everyone happy.”

“I understand we have some (arrays) that are the cause of this debacle, but I don’t think we should get all crazy,” Eaton said. “Ground mount is a good way to handle solar in certain instances, and it does work. I just think we need the time, which the moratorium will give us, to figure out the proper language to put in the zoning ordinances.”

While acknowledging the “legitimate concern” raised, Erin Carpenter criticized the proposed solution as overly simplistic and expressed her hope that solar would be made more accessible to Marshalltown residents across the socioeconomic spectrum as opposed to less.

Erin Carpenter of Marshalltown spoke out against the ban on ground solar arrays in residential and commercial areas during Monday night’s city council meeting.

“This seems like something that a few people decided was a problem because of a couple of cases, and while the city has been so understaffed in the last year, this ordinance was proposed,” she said. “But I don’t think it reflects best practices, and I think that this deserves better research and consideration.”

Carpenter asked the council to send the issue back to the Planning and Zoning Commission for further review and encouraged city leaders to promote solar as a tool in the fight against climate change while avoiding “haphazard, reactionary adjustments” like the one she felt was being proposed.

Lonnie Hogeland Sr. commented on the complaints the arrays draw from an aesthetic standpoint but noted that they are sold by a local agricultural implement and thought they would be OK “with the right rules.” P&Z Chairman Jon Boston then stepped forward to provide more background on the conversations the commission has been engaged in over the last several months.

In Boston’s view, fences should have been required around the arrays when the ordinance was initially written instead of just tree buffers, and he added that Alliant Energy offers a community solar program for those who don’t have a spot suitable for a ground or rooftop installation. Councilor Mike Ladehoff felt Carpenter’s arguments had merit and asked Boston if it would do any good to send the matter back to P&Z for further review.

“I don’t think so because we don’t have a zoning officer. We don’t have a director of housing. We’ve got a contract person coming on to handle a little bit of work part time,” he said.

As Boston noted, the housing and community development director position has been vacant for over a year now, and City Planner Hector Hernandez, who had been leading the P&Z meetings, submitted his resignation and worked his last day Monday. Boston went on to explain why he felt the special use permitting process going forward would be the most effective, and Ladehoff then asked if he believed the commission would be reviewing the matter again in the future.

“Oh, definitely,” Boston said. “We’ve got a lot of things we need to look at in the next few months.”

With the conversation then shifting to the councilors themselves, Gary Thompson admitted that he had “jumped on the bandwagon” due to some initial complaints but agreed with Carpenter’s comments and would vote no as a result. Thompson also worried that the council wouldn’t be able to revisit the issue for over a year if the new ordinance passed, but City Clerk Alicia Hunter clarified that ordinance amendments could be brought forward as needed.

“I still like the idea of leaving the moratorium in place and then letting them have six months to figure some stuff out. So, I’m just letting you know that I think we jumped the gun on this, (and) I’ll be voting no on this third reading tonight,” Thompson said.

City Consultant Cindy Kendall clarified that the moratorium is still in place, and the vendor Hogeland had mentioned only sells agricultural arrays. Ladehoff said he agreed with Thompson’s comments but felt that if the council was going to “toss the football” back to the P&Z commission, there would be no one there to catch it in terms of city staff. Fellow Councilor Greg Nichols worried that the current rebuild of city staffing would take between six months and a year before it was completed.

“(P&Z members) have done a lot of work. I would prefer we just move forward with that (and) let it come forward back to us as they have more information,” Nichols said.

Councilor Barry Kell wasn’t clear on the distinction between a moratorium and voting the third reading either up or down. Although the public comment period had passed, Greer allowed Carpenter to return to the podium, and she noted a disagreement on whether the council wanted to have more work to do now or later. Ultimately, however, she believed that allowing for further review and consideration provided a chance to “get it right.”

Jim Shaw took issue with Boston’s comment about the city’s lack of staffing hindering potential solar developments, and Greer also reflected on the current staffing situation. Councilor Jeff Schneider then expressed his support for the ordinance amendment as presented.

“Strong fences make good neighbors. It seems like solar arrays make enemies of neighbors. I just don’t see this is going to work in Marshalltown. I’ll be in favor of voting this ordinance through,” Schneider said.

Thompson then sought further clarification on which zoning classifications would and wouldn’t allow ground arrays (the proposed ordinance would ban them in commercial and residential areas), and a motion from Schneider then passed by a 5-1 vote with Thompson as the lone dissenter.

In other business, the council:

• Unanimously approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved the third reading of an amendment to Chapter 118 of the code of ordinances related to peddlers, solicitors and transient merchants.

• Approved the first reading of an ordinance rezoning Creekside Lane from mixed use to medium residential.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.