Jordan Beck | Daily Press People who attended the Escanaba Township Planning Commission’s meeting Monday are pictured shortly before the start of the meeting.

ESCANABA TOWNSHIP — Members of the Escanaba Township Planning Commission agreed to recommend proposed guidelines for solar energy facilities in the township to the Escanaba Township Board Monday after a public hearing.

Chandler Solar Project LLC, an affiliate of Orion Renewable Energy Group LLC, submitted an application to Escanaba Township’s zoning administrator and planning commission on July 8 for a special land use approval to allow development of a solar energy farm in the township.

In the application, it was noted about 1,800 acres of private property in the township have been leased for this purpose. Chandler plans to surround roughly 1,250 acres of land with fencing and to cover about 325 acres of the fenced-in area with solar panels.

Terry Burkhart, Escanaba Township’s attorney, is working with the township on the topic of solar development. Earlier this year, work towards adopting legal language related to solar energy facilities in the township began with the adoption and approval of a stand-alone solar ordinance by the planning commission and township board. However, it was Burkhart’s professional opinion that the new rules needed to be formatted as an amendment to the township’s zoning ordinance to meet legal requirements.

The solar ordinance was converted into a proposed zoning ordinance amendment, which was the focus of Monday’s meeting. With the exception of Tom Rymkos, the commission voted unanimously in favor of recommending the Escanaba Township Board approve a modified version of the proposed amendment.

Changes made to the proposed amendment include the exemption of the R-4 residential zoning district — a zoning designation for mobile home parks — from solar development along with the R-1, R-2 and R-3 residential zoning districts, the introduction of setbacks of 250 feet from residences and an increase in attorney reimbursements from $5,000 to $15,000.

People in attendance at Monday’s meeting expressed a variety of concerns related to solar energy facilities in the township.

Kelly Levely touched on what he felt were multiple potential issues with solar development in the area, including safety access, glare, landscaping problems and environmental effects. He also said he was opposed to having the township land being considered for solar development shift away from its history of agricultural usage.

“This is ag land — (we’ve lost) over three million acres of ag lands in the last 30 years in the United States, and it’s a shame to see Escanaba Township a part of that,” he said.

The establishment of a solar farm may also have a negative impact on area property values, Dan Bender said.

“Desirable properties raise value. This will decrease the desirability to live in Escanaba Township; therefore, the tax base you will get from … these solar panels will be offset by the depreciation of values of the property of the neighbors,” he said.

Not everyone who spoke at Monday’s meeting was against solar development in Escanaba Township.

“The small farmers are going under. There is no one that’s coming in, and their fields aren’t going to … be used,” Patty Lancour said.

Robert Barron discussed potential job creation from Chandler’s proposed solar energy farm.

“The entire community benefits, because this is going to bring economic activity … it’s going to generate a significant amount of jobs in the construction phase, but also there’ll be permanent jobs, which the company has talked about in their open house — they’re looking at having locals take care of that,” he said.

Larry Klope, who said he was largely neutral towards the township’s solar debate, spoke about his difficulties in finding the proposed zoning ordinance amendment on Escanaba Township’s website. The proposed amendment has been posted under “Calendar” on the website; Klope felt it should be under “Documents,” instead.

“If we’re going to honestly discuss this, and this really hasn’t been readily available and posted where it should be, are we able to even … discuss this, then?,” he said.

An Escanaba Township Board hearing on the planning commission’s findings and recommendations is set to be held at the township hall at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 12. The township board will be able to reject the proposed amendment, approve it or approve it with conditions at this time.

If the board approves the proposed amendment with or without conditions on Aug. 12, the planning commission will meet at the township hall for a hearing on Chandler’s application for the special land use approval at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 13.

The application and the proposed amendment to Escanaba Township’s zoning ordinance can be found at www.escanabatownship.org. From the website’s main menu, click “Calendar” and look under “Announcements” to find these documents.