On Wednesday, the Lyon County Planning and Appeals Board has some regular business and some special business.
On the regular business side of things are a request for a private RV park and approval of a communications tower.
On the special business side, as mentioned recently, is a public question-and-answer session about the county’s regulations on solar energy — and, specifically, potential text changes to current policy.
Lyon County Zoning and Floodplain Administrator Sam Seeley, a guest on KVOE’s Morning Show recently, stresses this meeting will not see any changes adopted. It will, however, foster additional conversations about changes that may be needed.
Seeley says he and Planning Board members have been discussing potential changes for months.
Setback distances, solar farm components, rural and agricultural aesthetics and agrivoltaics — locating ag and solar together, in some cases called dual-use solar — are all under discussion now.
Evergy had mailed landowners near the Emporia Energy Center about potential plans for a solar energy facility on all sides of the peak energy plant on Road 200 near Road S, and it had at least one meeting with landowners before that process halted due to a county-approved moratorium. Seeley says that project has had a big impact on the ongoing conversation, which does include data centers and battery energy storage systems.
The current plan is to give attendees a note card when they arrive.
The meeting is at 7 pm Wednesday at the Lyon County Courthouse Annex.
The meeting comes with a moratorium on solar projects underway until December 1 and a separate but related data center moratorium continuing to January 22.
