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Minnesota Model Solar Ordinance 13 <br />7. Decommissioning - A decommissioning plan shall be required to ensure that facilities are properly <br />removed after their useful life. <br />a. Decommissioning of the system must occur in the event <br />the project is not in use for 12 consecutive months. <br />b. The plan shall include provisions for removal of all <br />structures and foundations, restoration of soil and <br />vegetation and assurances that financial resources will be <br />available to fully decommission the site. <br />c. Disposal of structures and/or foundations shall meet the <br />provisions of the Model Community Solid Waste Ordinance. <br />d. Model Community may require the posting of a bond, <br />letter of credit or the establishment of an escrow account <br />to ensure proper decommissioning. <br />B. Community-Scale Solar – Model Community permits the <br />development of community-scale solar, subject to the following <br />standards and requirements: <br />1. Rooftop gardens permitted - Rooftop community systems <br />are permitted in all districts where buildings are permitted. <br />2. Community-scale uses - Ground-mount community solar <br />energy systems must cover no more than ten acres (project <br />boundaries), and are a permitted use in industrial and <br />agricultural districts, and permitted with standards or <br />conditional in all other non-residential districts. Ground- <br />mount solar developments covering more than ten acres <br />shall be considered large-scale solar. <br />3. Dimensional standards - All structures must comply with <br />setback, height, and coverage limitations for the district in <br />which the system is located. <br />4. Other standards - Ground-mount systems must comply <br />with all required standards for structures in the district in <br />which the system is located. <br />Prime Farmland and Agrivoltaics <br />Minnesota Admin. 7850.4400 Subd. 4 <br />has provisions for the protection of prime <br />farmland when large electric power <br />generating plants are located on lands <br />designated as prime farmland. <br />There are a number of mitigation <br />opportunities for solar sited on prime <br />farmland, such as co-locating agricultural uses <br />within solar arrays (also called agrivoltaics). <br />Groundcover that includes pollinator- <br />friendly plantings may enhance surrounding <br />agricultural opportunities, or in the case <br />of protecting drinking water or wellhead <br />protection areas as described below. <br />Defining Community-Scale Solar <br />The acreage size for community-scale solar <br />garden written here (10 acres) is the high end <br />of project size for a one megawatt system, <br />which is the maximum size of community <br />solar gardens within Xcel Energy’s program. <br />But other utilities have other size limitations, <br />and community-scale could be defined as <br />high as 10 megawatts (100 acre project size). <br />Community-scale solar is the size that can fit <br />in to the landscape. <br />Drinking Water Protection <br />In identifying preferred sites for solar <br />principal uses the community should consider <br />co-benefits of solar energy development. <br />One such potential co-benefit is protection <br />of drinking water supplies. Solar energy <br />development may be intentionally sited within <br />vulnerable portions of Drinking Water Supply <br />Management Areas (DWSMAs)as a best <br />management practice to restore and protect <br />native perennial groundcover that reduces <br />nitrate contamination of ground water <br />supplies.