photo by: Journal-World

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

Barring any final changes, the Douglas County Commission this week will likely take the final step in adopting regulations for future solar farms.

The proposed solar standards are again on the agenda for Wednesday’s commission meeting, just a few weeks removed from the last time Douglas County leaders discussed the topic. This time, a vote of approval would officially put those rules on the books almost exactly a year after the commission first initiated the process.

The previous commission meeting was a lengthy one, in part because more than 20 people showed up to offer comments on the solar standards. Some of those commenters specifically opposed a potential development from Florida-based energy firm NextEra, which has expressed interest in developing a 3,000-acre solar farm partially located in southeast Douglas County and extending into Johnson County.

Many of those commenters told commissioners that they live in that area, either in Douglas County or on the Johnson County side in Gardner or Edgerton.

At their April 20 meeting, commissioners ultimately gave preliminary approval pending a minor technical change about grading at solar farm sites. Along with grading, the rules outline a variety of other limits for solar farms in the county, such as setting their maximum size at 1,000 acres and also designating how far they must be set back from roads, homes and other structures.

If they’re granted final approval, the rules will pave the way for developers like NextEra to actually file plans for a solar farm, but that would then prompt a set of hearings with the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission and County Commission focused specifically on that project.

Wednesday’s 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.