Commissioners and residents clash over drafting process for solar ordinance

Several commissioners objected to a drafting process they described as involving a "hand‑selected" group of participants rather than the full commission or broad public work sessions. Commissioner speaker 6 said the approach risked appearing opaque: "this has been done behind closed doors," and urged that any commission-level comment should be preceded by town‑hall-style meetings or formal subcommittee processes to ensure transparency.

Stakeholders and other commissioners countered that the group helping refine the draft represented a broad county geography and that earlier town-hall meetings and public input had been held over a multi-year effort. A number of residents told the commission they supported moving the language toward supervisors to allow formal public hearings there. The commission did not resolve the dispute at this meeting but agreed to schedule a public work session and to document any small‑group drafting going forward to maintain public transparency.