My wife and I moved to Baldwin County in 2016. During our time here I have been privileged to serve a three-year term on the Baldwin County Planning and Zoning Commission, which has given me a broad education into the uniqueness of Baldwin County. Over the last few months I have been paying close attention to the discussions concerning the Silicon Ranch solar farm near Stockton and have discovered that a significant amount of misinformation and disinformation is being disseminated, causing confusion and concern throughout the county and beyond. I would like to try and straighten out some of that as it relates to zoning.
When planning and zoning regulations were adopted for Baldwin County a district system was established and the State of Alabama decided a “citizen-led” process would be the best method of determining where zoning was necessary and appropriate.
Here’s the current situation. A company wants to put a solar facility on a large block of low-grade timberland in an unincorporated, unzoned area of North Baldwin that is privately owned. The power generated by the facility will flow to Alabama Power and serve the local community, along with the broader grid. The project has cleared the Alabama Public Service Commission, who issued a “Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.” The landowners—your neighbors—agreed to sell. By any traditional measure of property rights, this is the kind of transaction we’re supposed to respect.
Based on rumors and lack of knowledge about the capturing, distribution and benefits of solar energy and Baldwin County’s zoning apparatus, citizens of that portion of the county have taken the knee jerk approach, “stop this project immediately, whatever it takes!” They quickly started a petition drive to collect signatures for a referendum that would reverse decades of Personal Property Rights “No’s” with a simple vote to now become zoned with no clear understanding of the process or the overall effects it may have to the community.
Let me be clear. Even if the voters in that district choose to incorporate as a zoned district, it does not necessarily mean a solar project (or subdivision, or manufacturing facility, or warehouse, or any other type of development) would not be allowed to be built there. It does not freeze all development forever! I have been particularly amused by the claims that the electric power generated here will provide power for a META center in Montgomery. I am not an electrical engineer but I know that electricity stops at the first resistance point. Simply put, you can’t put those electrons in a suitcase and take them to Montgomery.
Having served on the Planning Commission, I have come to understand the role planning can and should play in the orderly growth of our county. However, countywide zoning or district-by-district zoning shoved through on the back of one controversy, is the wrong answer. Under the 1991 Planning and Zoning Act, no district comes under county zoning until a majority of its own voters approve it at the ballot box. That’s the deal Baldwin County made with its rural residents 35 years ago. The voters north of the interstate have said “NO,” repeatedly, ever since. They live on working timberland, on family farms, in small, unincorporated communities where they believe in personal property rights. The whole point is being able to use your land without first clearing it with a board in Bay Minette.
Silicon Ranch leadership addressed concerns such as setbacks, wetlands, runoff traffic and others during a 4-hour community meeting. Silicon Ranch has stated publicly that it will not build on wetlands and other flood-prone areas and will be good stewards of the land as well as good citizens of the community. And let’s not overlook the fact that the company’s plans are subject to layered state and federal oversight: the Army Corps of Engineers and EPA under the Clean Water Act, ADEM stormwater permitting, plus the county’s own wetland and flood reviews.
As a national energy leader founded and based here in the Southeast, Silicon Ranch has built a well-documented track record over more than a decade—demonstrating a consistent commitment to doing things the right way, both as a long-term landowner and as an investor in critical utility infrastructure. That’s the kind of business I want to encourage in our community.
Yet by listening to a few loud voices, we risk doing the opposite—discouraging that kind of investment while also limiting the rights of private property owners. That’s not how we do things in America, and it’s not how we do things in Alabama.
To me this solar farm is a $350 million investment in Baldwin County that will provide over $50 million in property taxes alone. That will provide all citizens of Baldwin County with more funding for schools, roads, parks and other county-wide services. Oh, did I mention that it makes no noise, has no bright nighttime lights, creates no traffic, and if we have a weather event that causes a blackout, the lights in North Baldwin will have a better chance of being the first to come back on, thanks to the solar energy produced right here.
Bill Booher is a former Commissioner on the Baldwin County Planning and Zoning Commission.
