Jefferson County approves comprehensive plan, not quite ready to approve zoning regulations
New public comments have given the commissioners some pause before they can implement some of the proposed zoning regulations
JEFFERSON COUNTY - Newly shared perspectives from some members of the public have given the Jefferson County board some pause before they can ultimately approve the passage of parts of a comprehensive plan.
Two weeks ago, Jefferson County presented a revised final draft of the comprehensive plan that was first proposed earlier this year.
Tuesday, the commissioners said they were prepared to approved the comprehensive plan this week, but after assessing further feedback from some constituents, two of the three board members said they need more time to review the zoning regulations - and, specifically, the included solar regulations.
"And I really think we just need to discuss more," commissioner Danielle Schwab said during Tuesday's discussion. "It's not through any fault of you guys [those who drafted the plan], you've done the time, you've done the work. But these decisions are going to come back on us. They're not going to come back on [consulting firm] Marvin Planning. They're not going to come back on [county planning and zoning administrator] John McKee. They're going to come back on the commissioners, if we didn't look into that thoroughly enough."
"There are people on both sides of this issue, I get it, but we're trying to do our best to represent our citizens here. That's what we're trying to do," commissioner Mark Schoenrock said.
The commissioners said a common sentiment expressed by Jefferson County citizens is that they do not want to see solar farms take precedent over what the USDA has classified as prime farmland.
That's a feeling that has been conveyed at many of the county's public working sessions over the past two months.
"I would say 90-some percent of the citizens in the county want us to broaden our tax base. They don't necessarily have an idea, but they want to broaden the tax base," board chairman Michael Dux said.
The board will review the proposal one final time, and will decide whether or not to enact the regulations at their next meeting on April 7th.