The Solar Farm meeting is rescheduled for today from 5:00 until 7:00 PM in the Criminal Courtroom at the Greene County Courthouse.
The meeting is open to the public and will discuss high-impact facilities like solar installations, bitcoin mining, etc., but the goal is to define the purpose of solar regulations and to discuss proposals already submitted to the Planning and Building Department. There will be information on questions from the Greene County Community, like how will nearby property values be affected. An extensive study was conducted by independent commercial appraiser Rich Kirkland, for a Silicone Ranch Solar Facility in Madison County, TN in 2021. The study determined that the proposed solar facility would have no negative impact on home values as well as no impact on vacant residential or agricultural land.
The report also says the criteria that typically correlate with downward adjustments on property values, such as noise, orders, and traffic, all support a finding of no impact on property value. Numerous other studies state similar conclusions; for example Indiana, which on average properties within 2 miles of a completed solar facility, had increased in value compared to their value prior to installation.
The community also had questions like who recycles the materials and how are they recycled, who is responsible for cleaning any damage from a tornado if panels, for example, were to blow off and into adjacent lots. Some of the community are also curious what does it mean for property taxes collected by the county, and will there be glare that affects air traffic or airports? Those are just some of the topics that will be discussed at the meeting on solar farms tonight, at the courthouse located on 101 South Main Street.
