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ALBION – rolling hills.
This? This is farmland.
Farmland in Noble County.
And it’s the view from the back porch of Bill and Paula Shultz’s home, a house built on 2 acres that is like an oasis in the middle of farmland.
Northcentral Noble County is littered with such homesteads, land bought so people can live in the country.
Even on an autumn day, far from the green of the growing season, the surroundings are picturesque.
But if the developers have their way, Bill and Paula Shultz’s view from their back porch could change dramatically. Instead of the rural, Rockwell-esque view of the land that surrounds their home, they could potentially be surrounded by solar panels on four sides.
But that brings the proverbial cart in front of the horse.
The Noble County Commissioners are likely to vote on November 22nd on an ordinance that will set the guidelines for starting commercial solar companies.
The Noble County Plan Commission has been working on an ordinance since March to set such guidelines for companies looking to set up commercial solar operations in Noble County.
The creation of the ordinance was driven by government efforts last year to enact a nationwide land use law on the subject. Noble County officials wanted the books to have their own ordinance before this happened.
Geenex, a North Carolina-based company, has reached out to Noble County’s landowners and is offering $ 900 per acre, increasing to an average of $ 1,200 per acre, around a large solar field in central northern Noble Establish County.
Before such a project can be started, the district must develop and adopt guidelines for the development.
On Monday, the Noble County Commissioners voted 3-0 to reject the proposal they had worked with the Planning Commission on and made additions that are expected to be included by the Planning Commission at its meeting on Wednesday.
If the Planning Commission approves the changes, the commissioners could make the rules official on November 22nd.
Once the rules are in place, Geenex can move forward with its project, which is rumored to be between 2,000 and 3,000 acres in north central Noble County and encompassing an area roughly bounded to the north by the tracks of the Norfolk Southern Railroad and to the east by Cobblestone becomes golf course, to the south of CR 400N and to the west, west of SR 9.
One of the provisions of the policy, which was changed at the November 8th meeting, included reducing kickbacks from 350 feet from the foundation of a house to 300 feet.
The unanimous vote of Commissioners Dave Dolezal, Anita Hess and Gary Leatherman brought the solar panels much closer to Shultz’s back porch.
And closer to Renee Cox’s house too.
“I find it very disappointing,” said Cox of reducing the commissioners’ setbacks. “I find these setbacks ridiculous. I find it very difficult not to get angry. “
Cox spoke on a phone call in the Shultz dining room Wednesday night, where the couple was joined by neighbors Linda Gray and Kirk and Austin Magnuson.
Neither of them want solar panels near their property.
Paula Shultz, like Gray, recently retired. Your golden years? They could very well be filled with a sea of black solar panels.
“What did we retire for?” asked Schultz. “So we have to look at that? In summer I spend a lot of time in my garden. No matter which direction I look, I will see solar panels. “
Gray said she and her husband moved to the north of central Noble County specifically because it was rural.
“We picked this area because it’s in the country,” said Gray. “We scratched until we got it the way we wanted to. I’m trying to save my home. “
And now Gray’s view, which can be priceless, could potentially become mechanical.
Cox said she was concerned about the greater economic impact of putting thousands of acres in solar farms. Noble County, like all of its neighbors, needs housing. Blocking 2,000 to 3,000 acres of land for more than 20 years won’t help. Nor will it aid the land’s self-sufficient efforts by removing the land from agricultural production.
“We need industry,” she says. “We need living space. We need retail. “
Solar won’t solve any of these problems, she said.
“My biggest concern is the impact on housing,” said Cox, “and the value of housing.”
Home values are a big concern of Bill Shultz and others who question the value of a property surrounded on all sides by solar panels.
“I am really worried 10 years from now if I want to sell this place,” he said.
There will also be an impact on the local economy, claimed opponents of the solar plan.
Taking this land out of agricultural production will also harm the local granaries, those who sell fuel, as well as the mechanics, Cox claimed.
With large-scale commercial solar operations so new, there is no real track record of determining how reliable such operations will be. Cox also wondered what impact such solar systems would have on the environment.
If solar panels dominate large swaths of land it may not be life threatening, but it would be a threat to lifestyle, said those gathered in Shultz’s dining room.
The country is not a lifestyle. But those who work it are an integral part of the fabric of the county. 4-H is big in Noble County. Likewise FFA. Likewise the men and women who work to bring the food not just to their table, but to every table.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture conducts its agricultural census every five years. In 2017, the last year the census was conducted, the USDA reported that Noble County had 1,015 farms, 13% fewer than in the 2012 census.
But the land area considered as arable land increased 10% in 2017 to 199,996 acres, or 74.9% of Noble County’s 417 square miles.
In comparison, only LaGrange County, with its large Amish population of 78.9%, has a higher percentage of its total land mass devoted to agriculture. DeKalb County is 68.3%. Steuben with its variety of lakes is 58.3%.
An image that represents Noble County without a farmer? It would be terribly inaccurate.
Although a 3,000-acre solar farm would make up only 1.5% of Noble County’s arable land, opponents of Geenex’s plans fear that once a solar farm takes root, there will be more.
“Our rural lifestyle would go away,” said Shultz.
Kirk Magnuson lives in the area that would be affected by Geenex’s plans. He has land that he could possibly lease to the solar developer, but he won’t. Born and raised in rural Noble County, he only wants to live and work on his land.
“I’ve been here all my life,” said Magnuson. “I like the smell of the floor.”
With so much land taken out of production, the prices of other agricultural land will rise, making it unaffordable for smaller family farms to grow enough to survive.
“It will suffocate us,” said Austin Magnuson. “My biggest concern is Joe Farmer. The little one can’t keep up. “
Covering thousands of acres with solar panels also displaces wildlife onto the remaining land that is used for agriculture. The 20 deer currently feeding on Kirk Magnuson’s crops could grow to 50, he said.
A petition to the Noble County Commissioners, which states that “there are signatures from residences against the proposed solar industrial complex across Noble County,” contains 153 names.
Paula Shultz said that she realizes that where she lives is just a home in a larger community picture, but she wants to protect what is hers. At least in this part of Noble County, a lifestyle is at stake.
“We don’t think we have a fabulous home,” she said. “But it’s our home.”
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