Zoning admin: repeal ‘in the township’s best interest’
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
LOCKPORT TWP. — The sun set Monday on a solar ordinance in Lockport Township.
By a unanimous 5-0 vote, the Lockport Township Board approved a repeal of their 2023 solar ordinance, which governed large-scale and small-scale solar energy systems in the township and included a controversial solar overlay district.
The repeal comes amid public outcry over the ordinance from some township residents over the past few months, as well as the ongoing pushback among residents statewide against large-scale solar energy projects and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
As previously reported, with the repeal, there will be no local standards or regulations governing large-scale solar energy systems in the township moving forward. A repeal will also open up the township for large-scale developers who want to build solar energy projects over 50 megawatts in the township to go straight to the Michigan Public Service Commission under the controversial Public Acts 233 and 235 to get a permit to build anywhere in the township, if they find the land to do so, with little input from the Planning Commission or township officials.
Despite that, Township Supervisor Mark Major said the strong sentiment from residents against the ordinance since October was the main driving force behind the repeal.
“They had turnout. There was about 200 people there that wanted us to do it, and if you turn out, it’s 200 to 2,” Lockport Township Supervisor Mark Major said in an interview following the meeting. “I think that what control we had was a good thing, but if you turn out 200 people, I’m not gonna fight you. If that’s the way you want it to be, I’m good with that.”
The repeal is the culmination of public outcry over the ordinance since a Lockport Township Planning Commission meeting in October first brought public scrutiny to the ordinance, which had been in place since 2023. During discussion of possibly adding a BESS addition to the existing ordinance, a number of residents railed against both BESS and the ordinance itself, in particular the solar overlay district, which residents in the overlay said during that October meeting they were not aware of being in it until that night. Others have expressed concerns about the financial, environmental and safety impacts of large-scale solar and BESS operations as well.
Ultimately, after contentious meetings at the township Planning Commission, the township board, and the St. Joseph County Planning Commission, the BESS amendment was not approved by the township board in November, which led to the board recommending a repeal of the ordinance, thanks to the public sentiment. In December, the Planning Commission officially recommended the repeal to the board, with the St. Joseph County Planning Commission concurring with the plan at their Wednesday, Jan. 7 meeting.
“The county and my recommendation would be, due to public sentiment and the situations we have with solar projects at the state right now, a repeal of this ordinance would most likely be in the township’s best interest,” Zoning Administrator Matt Jorgensen said during the meeting. “The county and Southwest Michigan Planning Council concur with that.”
Lockport Township Planning Commission chair Sherrie Nowicki said during the meeting that with the repeal, the “chips will fall where they may” when it comes to any developers who want to bring a large-scale project to the township.
“We knew once we repealed it all, it’s just all gone. The chips will just fall where they may in the event something were to come to Lockport Township. We just don’t have anything to go by anymore,” Nowicki said. “I would agree, with public outcry and everything going on with the state, this is probably the best position we can put ourselves in at this time.”
Currently, there are no large-scale solar or battery projects under consideration or in the initial planning stages or that have even reached out to Lockport Township as of yet.
During discussion by board members prior to the vote, Trustee Rick Daniels said there could be concerns about not having anything to combat any possible large-scale developments in the future, but said residents would need to step up.
“If you flip to the other side, the concern is that now we have nothing, so therefore they can come in and, for lack of a better term, bully us,” Daniels said. “That’s what we’ll need you folks for. Once that happens, we need your backing to say this is not going to happen.”
Jorgensen agreed prior to the vote that developers would have to go through the state to get permission to build a large-scale solar or battery project in Lockport Township with the repeal. However, he cautioned that in the event that Public Acts 233 and 235 get repealed, the township would have to be very careful about overlay districts if they take up solar energy again.
“You can’t practice exclusionary zoning, saying you can’t do that anywhere. You can make them do it in a place so impractical that they never will, but any land use that has a legitimate public demand, you have to allow for it somewhere in the municipality,” Jorgensen said. “Right now, it’s not an issue because they can go to the state, but if that gets repealed, it will be conversations the township will need to enter into, because if you don’t, and a developer wanted to come in, they could theoretically sue for exclusionary zoning.”
Following the vote, Major said he hopes there is enough political pressure to repeal 233 and 235, while also referencing a public comment made earlier in the meeting by Second District St. Joseph County Commissioner Rick Shaffer introducing a proposed resolution against the laws at the county level.
“It’s my hope, Rick, that all your help can get the state to repeal the two PAs,” Major said, later noting some objections by residents regarding land use for such large-scale projects. “I agree that, why would you put stuff like that on farmland? It pretty much ruins it for 40, 50 years, if not longer. We already know farmland is already shrinking, so it doesn’t make any sense to me. There’s plenty of places to put it where there’s not farmland and it’s not in someone’s backyard. It’s a pretty big state.”
Following the meeting, Major said he wants to revisit solar energy regulations if the two laws get repealed. However, while he is hopeful for repeal, he said if they do not get repealed, it may take some time before anything is considered.
“I think it’s going to take a year or two, and see what people think then,” Major said. “I don’t see it changing in the near future, if that’s what people don’t want. We’re not going to revisit it unless we need to.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
