Proposed solar project shrinks by 22%, as companies try to win over neighbors

Geenex, RWE Energy say they’ll move solar panels farther from homes. Initial reaction heading to Aug. 27 vote: Not good enough. Plus, another local lawmaker opposes congressional redistricting idea

The companies behind a 1,791-acre solar project in western Tippecanoe County unveiled maps that show 22% fewer panels than originally planned, as they try to win support from neighbors who have been pushing back ahead of a crucial zoning hearing in less than two weeks.

Geenex and RWE Clean Energy officials behind what’s known as the Rainbow Trout Solar Project revealed a shrunken space for the solar fields and larger setbacks – putting panels farther from homes than they had been and more than the minimum room required in the county’s ordinances – during an open house Wednesday at the Convergence Center in Purdue’s Discovery Park District.

(Photo: Dave Bangert)

“Mainly, it was because of opposition,” Owen Young, development manager for Geenex, said Wednesday, roughly two months since the companies asked to put a vote on the project on hold so they could continue to make a case for a 120-megawatt project that would be the first utility-scale solar project in Tippecanoe County.

“I’ve been doing outreach to interested parties and answering questions as much as I can,” Young said. “We’ve rolled back the panels from all the residences, which seemed to be the biggest concern from everyone who’s given us input.”

Will it be enough to persuade the Area Board of Zoning Appeals, which is scheduled Aug. 27 to vote on a special zoning exception that is among the requirements for construction of the project that stretches from close to Division Road to near Montmorenci, along Jackson Highway?

“We hope so,” Jason Winik, development manager for RWE, said. “We’ve tried to listen to the community as much as possible. We’ve done a lot of work and layout revision to make sure that the concerns of all the community and all the people in the county facing the project are listened to. I think we’re doing a really good job of that and continue to make layout improvements.”

The companies’ officials say the project is still evolving and that they are still making adjustments based on community feedback.

Some neighbors say they still have their doubts and plan to do what they can to persuade BZA members on Aug. 27 to turn down the Rainbow Trout project.

“It’s just another attempt to save a fatally flawed submission,” Kenny McCleary, a western Tippecanoe County neighbor who has helped organize opposition to the project, said.