The Pipestone Planning Commission plans to review the city’s energy conversion system ordiance pertaining to wind and solar installations, like this one in Pipestone, and those of other cities and counties to see if changes are be recommended to the city’s ordinance. A lack of clarity in the existing ordinance regarding solar installations was cited as the reason for the study. File photo
The Pipestone Planning Commission plans to review its energy conversion system ordinance pertaining to wind and solar energy facilities and similar ordinances used by other cities or counties to see if there are changes that should be made to the city’s ordinance.
Planning Commission members and city staff discussed the topic during the commission’s July 10 meeting. The discussion followed the Pipestone City Council’s approval on July 1 of an interim ordinance authorizing a study by the planning commission and imposing a moratorium on the establishment, construction or expansion of renewable energy facilities within the city to give the planning commission time to conduct the study. The moratorium is in place for a year, until the city council repeals it or until the effective date of an updated ordinance.
“Everything is on a temporary halt until we go through the ordinance to make amendments to fit after the study of the ordinance and what fits best for the city of Pipestone,” said Pipestone Building and Zoning Official Solomon Derby.
Derby said the language about solar facilities in the existing ordinance, which was adopted in 2021, appeared to have contradictions, was lacking specificity and was missing information, which made it difficult for him to answer questions when people called about solar. He said that’s what brought about the review of the ordinance.
Some topics discussed during the meeting included commercial and residential solar, whether solar gardens could be installed in specific zoning districts, and regulations for roof-mounted and ground-mounted solar panels.
While solar is the primary reason for the review of the existing ordinance, Derby said changes to the part of the ordinance pertaining to wind could also be made. He said he had not received any questions about wind energy in the city limits and that the only wind tower in the city that he could think of was the one that had been at Pipestone Area Schools (PAS). Mayor Dan Delaney, who is a city council liaison on the planning commission, said he didn’t think wind energy systems were feasible in the city limits.
Derby said the planning commission could also consider other energy conversion systems beyond wind and solar during the review of the ordinance.
Delaney asked if there had been any requests for energy conversion systems recently. Derby said no one had requested an application lately, but that he had received questions about what is allowed. Assistant City Administrator/Clerk Stephanie LaBrune told the planning commission that interest had been expressed in installing a solar array where the wind tower had been at PAS, so the commission might not want to prolong the review process too long.
“I think it would be a goal to try to get it done sooner than later,” LaBrune said.
The planning commission plans to continue discussion on the topic at its August meeting once it has obtained some sample ordinances.
