photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.

A few weeks after Douglas County leaders discussed a set of draft regulations for solar farms, they’re set to learn about how land could be used for both solar power generation and agriculture at the same time.

Before their meeting on Wednesday, county commissioners will have a work session about the draft regulations, which advanced out of the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission at the end of February and which the County Commission previously heard about in early March.

In the last discussion, commissioners asked to learn more about agrivoltaics, or the simultaneous use of areas of land for both solar power generation and agriculture.

A memo from planner Mary Miller lists some common examples of agrivoltaic land use, like planting pollinator plants and installing bee hives for honey production; grazing sheep or larger livestock; or raising fruits, vegetables or other crops.

However, Miller’s memo also says that when county staff met with solar farm operators and developers earlier this month to discuss agrivoltaics, the developers voiced concern that the basic structure for agrivoltaics wasn’t yet fully developed. The memo says developers were concerned that it would be difficult to design a system that could accommodate agricultural uses if it wasn’t yet clear what kind of agriculture the space would be used for. The memo specifically names two companies: NextEra, a Florida-based energy firm that’s already expressed interest in developing a solar farm straddling the border of Douglas and Johnson counties; and Kansas City, Missouri-based solar developer Savion.

County commissioners also asked for a table that clearly shows which proposed standards in the draft regulations could be modified. Based on that table, there are a handful of standards that commissioners would be able to change, related to elements like the amount of grading that can take place in a site area and the maximum height of installed solar panels.

Though the commission won’t take any further action on the draft proposal on Wednesday, the memo from Miller does outline some possible options for next steps. Commissioners could place the proposal on the regular agenda for an upcoming meeting for further discussion about any other changes deemed necessary or possible approval. They could also ask staff to research agrivoltaics more and to develop language in the regulations related to agrivoltaic projects.

In other business, the commission will:

• Hear a presentation from the city of Lawrence about its Community Economic Development Strategic Plan. The city started developing the plan in August of 2020, in part because of the coronavirus pandemic.

• Consider a request for a temporary business permit to allow a burn pit operation at 1289 East 1750 Road for a one-year period starting March 30. The property’s owner, Dan King of King’s Construction Co. Inc., wants to use it to burn trees, brush and other discarded vegetation that are hauled there from off-site. The property is currently used as a borrow pit, a pit from which construction materials like sand or gravel are taken for use at another location. There’s also a single-family residence and farm on site. Details from the application included with the meeting materials note that the site would observe any burn bans and would avoid burning any materials while winds are directed at Kansas State Highway 10, which is near the property.

Wednesday’s study session will begin at 4 p.m., and the regular business meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. The meeting also will be available by Zoom. For meeting information, visit the county’s website: dgcoks.org/commissionmeetings.