The fight over land usage and property rights, in regard to a potential major solar farm installation, continues in Christian County.
Following months and months of litigation, and a final ruling from the state’s Public Service Commission and Board on Electric Generation and Transmission Siting, officials with Dogwood Corners LLC and Oriden have filed a 30-page appeal in Christian County Circuit Court — seeking a number of claims for their favor.
Among the literature are four counts and a prayer of relief:
— Count I states that the March 8 order from the Siting Board, one requiring compliance with Christian County ordinances, is unlawful because the force and effect of said ordinance was “extinguished upon its express repeal” by the fiscal court. And as such, the Siting Board is without authority to require compliance with the ordinance, whose force and effect has been extinguished.
— Count II states that the Siting Board’s application of KRS in the March 8 order is unlawful because “there is no ambiguity” in the legislature’s instructions for setbacks in state statutes that require construction of the statutes, and therefore, the “plain language” of the statutes determines legislative intent and control of the Siting Board’s “exercise of authority.”
— Count III attests that the Siting Board’s application of specific KRS in its March 8 order is unlawful because it does not give full effect to all parts of KRS, and renders other provisions within statutory framework for electric generation and transmission siting null, and produces baseless results.
— Count IV issues that the Siting Board’s March 8 order is unlawful because it exceeds the Siting Board’s statutory authority regarding local planning and zoning requirements and setback provisions.
— Reparations sought are an acceptance of jurisdiction over the complaint pursuant to KRS, a timely designation of administrative record on appeal by the Siting Board, a judgment vacating the March 8 order from the Siting Board as “arbitrary, capricious, unlawful, unreasonable, and in excess of its statutory authority,” a remanding of this matter for further proceedings consistent to Court opinion and order, and for any other relief to which Dogwood Corners LLC may appear entitled.
Copies of the April 5 filing were served to the Siting Board, Attorney General Russell Coleman, Christian County Judge-Executive Jerry Gilliam and County Attorney Lincoln Foster.
Dogwood Corners LLC is seeking a 650-acre buildout that would generate at least 125 megawatts of purchasable electricity.
