Planning commission forwards residential solar ordinance and comprehensive‑plan changes to Board of Supervisors

The Lancaster County Planning Commission on a November night voted to forward proposed changes to the county comprehensive plan and related zoning‑ordinance language that would tighten rules for small‑scale ground‑mounted residential solar installations.

County planning staff presented amendments to Chapter 6 of the Lancaster County comprehensive plan and companion edits to Part 1 of the zoning ordinance (including revised definitions for small‑scale residential solar and changes to Article 28). Staff said the revisions respond to Board of Supervisors concerns about whether existing installations’ size, height, location and noise comport with the intent of current rules. Staff also included 2024–2025 solar permit data and a redlined comparison of current and proposed ordinance language in the meeting packet.

"To date, there have been no public comments regarding this proposed amendment," Miss Hall, county planning staff, told the commission, while summarizing prior planning‑commission work on the drafts and past feedback from the Board of Supervisors. Commissioners also asked staff to correct numbering and formatting errors in the draft ordinance before forwarding.

With the public comment periods closed and no in‑person or online speakers recorded, commissioners voted to forward the comprehensive‑plan amendment and the Part‑1 zoning edits to the Board of Supervisors with favorable recommendations as presented by county staff.

The Board of Supervisors will receive the commission’s recommendations as part of the formal review process; the planning commission record notes staff will update format and numbering and that any additional comments received later will be forwarded to the board. The commission did not record a detailed roll‑call vote tally for these two items in the transcript.