The APA’s Planning Advisory Memo points out that concentrating large-scale solar projects disrupt an area’s overall land use patterns and negatively impact the community as a whole in these excerpts:

  • A concentration of solar facilities is another primary concern. The large scale of this land use, particularly when solar facilities are concentrated, also significantly exacerbates adverse impacts to the community in terms of land consumption, use pattern disruptions, and environmental impacts (e.g., stormwater, erosion, habitat). Any large-scale homogenous land use should be carefully examined — whether it is rooftops, impervious surface, or solar panels. Such concentrated land uses change the character of the area and alter the natural and historic development pattern of a community.
  • The attraction of solar facilities to areas near population centers is a response to the same forces that attract other uses — the infrastructure is already there (electrical grid, water and sewer, and roads). One solar facility in a given geographic area may be an acceptable use of the land, but when multiple facilities are attracted to the same geography for the same reasons, this tips the land-use balance toward too much of a single use. The willingness of landowners to cooperate with energy companies is understandable, but that does not automatically translate into good planning for the community. The short- and medium-term gains for individual landowners can have a lasting negative impact on the larger community.

planning for utility-scale solar energy facilities, p 5

See also:

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