Stewart City Council amends ordinance to accommodate solar gardens in city
The Stewart City Council amended its land use ordinance Monday night to allow solar gardens in its rural residential and agricultural district.
The city heard a proposal from Sunrise Energy Ventures to place two one-megawatt solar gardens on acreage owned by Dwight and Pam Wiechman at the city’s southwestern edge.
Mark Zwieg of Sunrise Energy Ventures said each solar garden would take about six to seven acres of land. The power generated would be directed to an Xcel Energy substation along Highway 212, and would be used for power to the city of Stewart. Zwieg said the city was “somewhat of an island” within the Xcel service area, and that power from the solar garden would not be used elsewhere on the power grid.
Neighbor Ken Kuttner said he wasn’t opposed to the project, but did ask questions about drainage and weed control.
Read the full story in the May 10 edition of The McLeod County Chronicle.