North Carolina town rejects solar because it'll suck up sunlight and kill the plants

[quaker bill]

42. People say colorful and unfortunate things at P&Z or permitting meetings

All the time. I have been a professional in this business for 22 years.

The interesting thing about P&Z meetings is that at some level sentiment of the neighbors, regardless of how poorly informed, can actually be considered relevant. I would place a caveat on this because there is a level at which the 4th amendment property rights of the party seeking the new zoning can be violated. In this case, I would say the decision rides that line.

The comments of the commissioners voting on it would be important. If they were bowing to public sentiment and simply deciding the proposed land use is incompatible, then the decision might be sustainable. If on the other hand their comments suggest that they were concerned about sucking the area dry of solar energy, the landowner could probably sue and get the decision reversed.