Solar Energy Systems ZOTA

Urged passage of the solar ordinance, citing Kentucky's poor health ranking from fossil fuel power and the ZOTA's farmland protections.

Supported the ordinance's 1% cap on agricultural land for solar and called Fayette County a potential national model.

A 12th District farmer urged the council not to allow industrial solar in the agricultural zone, describing active farming that feeds residents across districts.

Kentucky Solar Energy Society board member praised the ordinance's balance and cited successful agrivoltaic projects in Kentucky.

Speaking for Silicon Ranch, urged the council to move the ZOTA forward, highlighting the company's long-term land stewardship and sheep grazing model.

A fourth-generation 12th District farmer who supports solar argued the county should first exhaust rooftop and parking lot solar on schools, Kroger, Walmart and UK before touching farmland.

Detailing research on agrivoltaic solar, asked the council to support the version allowing large-scale solar on 1% of county land.

Argued the ZOTA's guardrails are the only way to control inevitable utility-scale solar, invoking his mountaintop removal photography to urge passage.

A 12th District resident opposed putting solar in the ag zone, comparing 800 acres to 726 Kroger Fields and asking the council to stand with his district.

Speaking for Silicon Ranch, called the ordinance a well-balanced one and urged passage.

Kentucky Solar Energy Society chair urged approval, noting the ordinance requires continued farming on solar sites and Silicon Ranch's record in Garrard County.

A solar industry professional with 80 employees said utility-scale solar is the fastest, cheapest path to the county's climate goals.

A longtime Sierra Club member opposed siting solar on farmland, pointing to the planning division's recommendation for small and medium-scale projects and the county's flat roofs.

Opposed industrial solar on agricultural land, noting her family was denied a 10-acre homesite on their 200-acre farm under current zoning, and asked why solar can't start on non-agricultural sites.

Warned that allowing 1% of farmland for solar creates a slippery slope, drawing on his experience in twelve states with protected urban service boundaries.

Criticized relying on an out-of-state, Shell-funded company to greenwash farmland; urged the city to fund solar in the built environment instead.

The fourth-generation Coleman Crest Farm owner urged a no vote, citing soil disturbance risks, cumulative impacts of nearly 2,000 acres, and the Planning Commission's unanimous recommendation against.

Silicon Ranch representative urged support for the ZOTA, emphasizing the company's long-term ownership model and agrivoltaics practice.

Supported the ZOTA, citing Kentucky's coal- and gas-dominated utility mix, energy burdens, and public health harms of fossil fuels.

Chair of the Bluegrass Climate Action Team supported the agrivoltaic ZOTA, describing it as a form of agriculture that could power 10,000 homes.

Spoke on behalf of hundreds of union members and asked the council to support the ZOTA.

Lives in the Haley Downs neighborhood targeted for the Silicon Ranch project and urged the council to rescind its 8-5 approval, calling the proposal destructive to the horse capital of the world.

A 30-year environmental advocate who supports the ZOTA's tightly constrained structure as a responsible 'plus-plus' solution.

Representing the Rural Land Management Board and PDR program, opposed large-scale solar on rural land, noting federal conservation partners bar it on protected land; entered a position paper into the record.

A retired lifelong Fayette farmer who warned the vote sets a dangerous precedent, saying the power will leave the county and won't lower rates.

Briefly spoke in opposition to corporate solar.

A PDR and Fayette Alliance supporter who called the 1% cap a fair balance of farmland preservation and clean energy goals.