St. Cloud City Council puts off solar garden after concerns

The St. Cloud City Council has put off discussing a proposal to build a solar garden in part of a local cemetery after neighbors spoke out against the plan's possible effects on wildlife and property values. More than a dozen residents raised concerns at a public hearing Monday about the garden, whick that would occupy about 7 to 9 acres in the northeastern portion of Assumption Cemetery, The St. Cloud Times reported

Some said they were worried about what other projects could be developed in the cemetery if 100 acres were rezoned from a single-family residential district and highway commercial district to a planned unit development.

Community development director Matt Glaesman recommended the council table the request and later revisit a new ordinance that would break the 100-acre parcel into three zones. The council voted unanimously to table the discussion.

The proposal shows there would be approximately 3,600 solar panels that wouldn't exceed 12 feet in height.

Resident Marilyn Mohr said the only benefactors of the solar panels would be the cemetery and Novel Energy Solutions, leaving the neighborhood "with nothing."

"The land belongs to the Diocese, not the neighbors or the public," Duane Hebert of Novel Energy Solutions wrote. "They should have the right to add value with no negative impact to the neighboring properties."