Solar farm OK’d by Oregon City Council; conditions added to protect homeowners

OREGON — Creation of a solar farm west of the Century Hill subdivision was OK’d by the Oregon City Council, but not without conditions aimed at protecting homeowners living nearby.

On Oct. 25, council members voted 4-1 to approve an annexation agreement with USS Ducks Solar — a subsidiary of Midwest-based US Solar — to annex a 70.64-acre land parcel into the city from Oregon-Nashua Township. Commissioner Terry Schuster voted no.

The 4.8-megawatt community solar garden will generate enough electricity to support about 1,125 homes, or about 70% of the homes in Oregon, said Ryan Magnoni, US Solar Project Developer. It has a planned lifetime of 20 years.

“ComEd’s not going to send this [power] 100 miles away when it can be used here,” Magnoni said. “Generally speaking, no, I can’t 100% guarantee you [it all will go to Oregon], but the power is going to be used within the area.”

The company has until Nov. 1, 2023, to request the annexation, at which point, the City Council will adopt a variance for the project to allow a solar farm.

Council members spent about 40 minutes discussing how best to hide the solar panels from the views of homeowners who opposed the project because of the sight.

Prior to final the final vote to approve the agreement, council members added a condition that USS Ducks Solar would be responsible for the cost of adding an “appropriate screening of trees, not to be less than 6 feet high” across the property line closest to the affected homes. Homeowners are able decline the trees, and the city will have a say over the trees’ species.

Originally, the USS Ducks Solar sought to use land south of the Century Hills subdivision and west of Oregon Park West for the solar farm, but council members unanimously denied the request on Aug. 23.

USS Ducks Solar and Dan Luepkes, who supports the project and owns the property, subsequently returned with an altered proposal, including the new location.

They’d like to begin construction after Luepkes finishes harvesting his crops next year, Magnoni said. They expect it will take two- to three months from the time ground is broken until the solar farm is up and running, he said.