Around North Carolina: Currituck Ends Solar Moratorium

On the topic of clean energy, Currituck County has ended its moratorium on new permits for solar energy facilities.

Last week, the Currituck County Board of Commissioners voted 4-3 for a new ordinance regulating the development of new solar farms in the coastal county. The moratorium previously in effect had been adopted after the commissioners received complaints regarding dust, noise, and traffic from the construction of two solar farms there.

The ordinance requires setbacks from neighbors’ property lines, limits on construction hours, and the retention of at least 30% of the developed property for active farmland or pollinator habitat. The final ordinance dropped some other restrictions, at the request of farmers interested in leasing part of their land for solar farms. The farmers argued that the added income would enable them to continue farming on the remainder of their land instead of selling it for development.

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