By David Church | Pinal Central
ELOY — The city of Eloy recently has approved four separate solar plant projects, and five others are proposed. As both the city and Pinal County continue to participate in the jump to solar energy, the Eloy City Council held a work session Monday in order to fine-tune the provisions of solar facilities within the city limits.
To begin the meeting, Eloy Community Development Director Jon Vlaming gave a presentation that framed the issue and provided preliminary recommendations to update Chapter 21 — which pertains to zoning — of the Eloy City Code.
During his presentation, Vlaming detailed both the short-term and long-term impacts of solar facilities in the area, which include property values, agricultural use, decommissioning and various direct and indirect economic implications.
“These are the kinds of issues that have been identified, these are the issues why we are coming before you and the council,” Vlaming said to the audience. “We think it is an appropriate time to really have a community conversation about this particular topic.”
