9.
Enclosure Guarantee: No solar facility shall enclose more than two sides of a nonparticipating residential property.
10.
Properties classified as protected areas under the authority of the National Park Service, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, or other private and public nature conservatories such as federal, state, or county parks wildlife reserves, and nature preserves shall follow all federal guidelines regarding protection of said areas. have large scale ground mounted solar facility located no less than 500 feet from the property line.
The setbacks set forth in items 2 and 3 above may be reduced by up to eighty percent (80%) 50% with a written waiver from the property owner(s) which will be provided by the DMMPC.
E. SIGNAGE
Each solar facility must include an informational sign, 1 per frontage, with the name of the facility owner and the phone number for a 24-hour emergency contact. The informational sign may not exceed six (6) square feet.
F. BUFFERS AND LANDSCAPE
The facilities, including fencing, shall be significantly screened from the viewshed of adjacent residential dwellings or commercial buildings by a buffer zone extending from the property line. Adjacent includes dwellings across the road from the solar facility. A property owner may waive the buffer zone requirement in whole or in part. Existing vegetation or natural landforms on the site may provide such screening. Existing wooded areas of an acre or more of land may not be removed for the installation or operation of a solar facility. Large trees, greater than twelve (12) inches in diameter at four (4) feet above grade inch diameter at breast height, outside of wooded areas, that are removed must be replaced with native trees at a 2 to 1 ratio on the solar facility site. In the event that existing vegetation or landforms providing the screening are disturbed, new plantings shall be provided which accomplish equivalent screening. Opaque architectural screening methods may be used to supplement, other screening methods but shall not be the primary method.
1.
Landscaping/Screening: A minimum fifty (50) foot buffer zone, containing native plants including trees, shrubs and pollinators, shall be maintained. If there is no existing vegetation or if the existing vegetation is inadequate to serve as a screen, native plants shall be planted to create the visual screen. Remaining areas in the setbacks shall be maintained with pollinator-friendly plants as shown on the landscape plan. New plantings of trees shall be approximately six (6) feet in height at time of planting. Blooming shrubs may be used in buffer areas as appropriate for visual screening.
2.
Wildlife corridors: The concept plan shall identify an access corridor for wildlife to navigate through the solar facility project area. The proposed wildlife corridor shall be shown on the detailed site plan. To the extent it is reasonably practical, areas between and/or along fencing shall be kept open or contain openings to allow for the movement of migratory animals and other wildlife. Setbacks from county drain tiles, transmission lines, or natural gas lines are all valid wildlife corridors.