York County Press Release
YORK COUNTY – For now, it looks like the tentative date for York County’s public hearing regarding solar project zoning will be held June 17.
That date is contingent upon the securing of a location for this particular Monday night.
Once the booking is secured, the date and time will be published.
This week, during the York County Commissioners’ regular meeting, Commissioner Chairman Randy Obermier said he wanted to give newly-appointed Commissioner Andy Bowman the opportunity to voice any opinions or concerns he had about the proposed regulations, prior to them being presented to the public at the hearing.
“Five of us pushed through those proposed regulations, before you were here,” Obermier said to Bowman. “So I wanted to give you a chance to provide your feelings about these.”
“Some of my concerns are why do these proposed regulations go so far away from what our zoning committee proposed?” Bowman said.
“I think there needs to be a happier medium between the zoning committee regulations and those proposed by the county commissioners.
He said he also wanted to have a conversation with York County Zoning Administrator Nate Heinz, before the hearing, as he had some questions.
Bowman asked what the vote was when the commissioners pushed through these proposed regulations for the hearing. Obermier said the vote was 3-2.
“As far as the recommendations from the zoning board — we took those and yes, we tweaked a bit and we continue to edit them,” Obermier said. “There were some setback changes on three and we added some things in there as well. And there could be a compromise and changes, still.”
“I would like to see a public meeting with what was approved by this board,” Bowman said
Commissioner Daniel Grotz also noted how no decisions would be made the night of the public hearing – that hearing is strictly for taking public comment.
“Yes, and all of this will then come back to this board,” Obermier said.
“We need to have the public meeting,” Bowman said. “We need to move forward and put this to bed.”
Obermier also noted he hoped there would be opinions provided about the proposed regulations from the county’s newly-hired consulting firm, who will be helping the county with zoning regulations and the updating of the comprehensive plan.
“Let’s try to set June 17 and we will move forward,” Obermier said.
