While fans of renewable energy are promoting solar farms to provide electricity, it’s not so easy to convince neighboring landowners of the value of solar farms because of the amount of acres taken off farmland production.
Take for example the recent case of a farming family in eastern Kansas where their farm has roots going back to the 1860s. It was near Gardner County the family was interested in leasing their land for part of a proposed 3,000 acre West Gardner Solar Project.
It sparked a community fight that ended up before two counties.
” “If you allow this to happen, commissioners, you will devalue the property and destroy the lives that we have spent years building here and threaten our health and well-being,” argued one woman before Johnson County Commissioners.
According to USA Today, Johnson County Commissoners as well as those in neighboring Douglas County passed new zoning regulations, limiting solar projects. Johnson County put a 2,000 acre limit on such projects while Douglas county made it 1,000 acres.
Click here for USA Today
