CLINTON — An effort to restrict commercial solar energy production projects to areas zoned industrial is on hold after the county board voted to send the matter back through the approval process.

The board voted last week to return a proposed update of the county’s solar energy ordinance back to committee for reconsideration.  Several board members were hesitant to approve changes that would restrict solar developments to the limited number of areas in the county zoned for industrial use.

A commercial solar project is currently proposed on farmland located near Weldon.

Board member Buck Carter spoke in favor of the ordinance update, limiting commercial solar development to industrial-zoned areas.  Carter told solar developers during an earlier presentation to the board that he was “not impressed” with solar energy production.

Carter has advocated the preservation of what he referred to as “prime farmland.”  Board member David Newberg questioned whether Carter could differentiate between what Carter called “prime farmland and just regular farmland.”

Carter said he thought the Illinois Department of Agriculture used “prime” as a farmland definition.

Following is the United States Department Agriculture (USDA) definition of prime farmland:  “Prime farmland, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is land that has the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and oilseed crops and is available for these uses. It could be cultivated land, pastureland, forestland, or other land, but it is not urban or built-up land or water areas.”

Carter suggested some land could be rezoned later depending on its quality.  Other board members had a problem with that approach.

“It’s way too subjective for us to sit here and decide your property is worth saving but yours isn’t,” said board member Dan Matthews.  “I don’t understand how we, as a group, can decide that.”

Matthews said he did not see any way that restricting solar developments to industrial-designated areas was protecting public health or safety, as included in ordinance language.

• See the complete story in the Friday, Jan. 28, print edition of the Clinton Journal or now in the Journal E-Edition for subscribers.