Neighbors celebrate, company looks to regroup as Board of Zoning Appeals votes 4-3 against what would have been Tippecanoe County's first utility-scale solar project
In fairness, there was no guarantee in writing from them they would contribute to lower power bills. In fact, their non willingness to reveal who their high usage customers lined up to service with this project even were. NIMBYs aside, the company was not transparent and that is damning.
Companies doing this work should stop leaning on this green for all angle if they aren’t willing to answer basic questions about who their customers really are.
I do agree my complaint is in the minority of dissenters, and most people against this just weren’t wanting to hurt their bottom line/property view.
Hopefully the landowners can find other great projects to turn their land over to. High density subdivisions, hog fans, etc.
Realistically, this was the first project targeting these sites. And it won’t be the last. The next project will likely be permanent changes to the land and that could never be returned to farm. It’s unfortunate the nearby residents didn’t consider the long term ramifications of a denial could mean.
ABZA includes the votes in the published minutes. This soon, all you’ll see is the total decision for each agenda item. But in the agenda for next month, they’ll include complete minutes of this month (which need to be approved as part of their business that night). Here is the website - look at a previous month to see what I mean:
I’m not for the NIMBY narrative that sank this project at BZA, but I think it’s silly that we are tsk tsk’ing about this decision. The company was plainly non transparent, and in a world where data centers and other big tech bullshit is popping up all around the state, if an energy company of any stripe is unwilling to be transparent about their goals in a community that’s a clear red flag.
If the property owner truly cares about the integrity of their land, maybe don’t sell it to anyone — radical idea.
I agree that this project would benefit our community with the right constraints and written understandings, but I reject the narrative of “oh well, guess they will sell to some worse company.” If they do that, it invalidates their whole narrative and makes them look kind of like sell outs. This deal could have given them the best way out of that while still making money, but the company wasn’t honest about its intentions and that was a true sinker for me.
All that aside, the “this will hurt my backyard view” narrative is ridiculous
I own cropland in Benton Co that I cash rent. One field has poor water drainage. I have already wasted much money on select tiling. Now my farmer manager solution is to pattern tile the whole field.. (If all you have is a hammer, the solution is more nails.) The ROI for pattern tile is horrible; especially now that overseas markets (China) has gone elsewhere like Brazil. I'd prefer to go solar but Benton Co would have a kitty-fit.
Many arguments against solar match Koch Industries fighting wind farms. Benton Co loves their wind turbines. As far as the BZA... who voted which way. Follow the money.
Wonder what Hoosiers have against lower utility bills?
In fairness, there was no guarantee in writing from them they would contribute to lower power bills. In fact, their non willingness to reveal who their high usage customers lined up to service with this project even were. NIMBYs aside, the company was not transparent and that is damning.
Companies doing this work should stop leaning on this green for all angle if they aren’t willing to answer basic questions about who their customers really are.
I do agree my complaint is in the minority of dissenters, and most people against this just weren’t wanting to hurt their bottom line/property view.
Hopefully the landowners can find other great projects to turn their land over to. High density subdivisions, hog fans, etc.
Realistically, this was the first project targeting these sites. And it won’t be the last. The next project will likely be permanent changes to the land and that could never be returned to farm. It’s unfortunate the nearby residents didn’t consider the long term ramifications of a denial could mean.
Not releasing how each person voted is a bad look. Hopefully they’ll provide that to Dave, today.
ABZA includes the votes in the published minutes. This soon, all you’ll see is the total decision for each agenda item. But in the agenda for next month, they’ll include complete minutes of this month (which need to be approved as part of their business that night). Here is the website - look at a previous month to see what I mean:
https://www.tippecanoe.in.gov/AgendaCenter/Board-of-Zoning-Appeals-2
I’m not for the NIMBY narrative that sank this project at BZA, but I think it’s silly that we are tsk tsk’ing about this decision. The company was plainly non transparent, and in a world where data centers and other big tech bullshit is popping up all around the state, if an energy company of any stripe is unwilling to be transparent about their goals in a community that’s a clear red flag.
If the property owner truly cares about the integrity of their land, maybe don’t sell it to anyone — radical idea.
I agree that this project would benefit our community with the right constraints and written understandings, but I reject the narrative of “oh well, guess they will sell to some worse company.” If they do that, it invalidates their whole narrative and makes them look kind of like sell outs. This deal could have given them the best way out of that while still making money, but the company wasn’t honest about its intentions and that was a true sinker for me.
All that aside, the “this will hurt my backyard view” narrative is ridiculous
I own cropland in Benton Co that I cash rent. One field has poor water drainage. I have already wasted much money on select tiling. Now my farmer manager solution is to pattern tile the whole field.. (If all you have is a hammer, the solution is more nails.) The ROI for pattern tile is horrible; especially now that overseas markets (China) has gone elsewhere like Brazil. I'd prefer to go solar but Benton Co would have a kitty-fit.
Many arguments against solar match Koch Industries fighting wind farms. Benton Co loves their wind turbines. As far as the BZA... who voted which way. Follow the money.