Stockton area voters approve zoning – but Baldwin County says it won’t stop new solar farm
Stockton-area voters approved a zoning referendum, initiating a 180-day moratorium on new development in Planning District 3 and allowing for the drafting of new zoning rules. This action is a direct response to a proposed 4,500-acre solar farm by Silicon Ranch, which would supply power to a Meta data center. However, Baldwin County officials state the solar farm project has already secured permits and will proceed despite the vote.
Stockton-area voters in Baldwin County, Alabama, overwhelmingly approved a zoning referendum, signaling their intent to halt a proposed 4,500-acre solar farm planned by Silicon Ranch. The vote triggers a 180-day moratorium on new development in Planning District 3 and will lead to an advisory board working with Baldwin County planners to draft new zoning rules, which require final approval from the Baldwin County Commission.
Residents, led by figures like Meagan Fowler, initiated the petition drive after learning of Silicon Ranch's plans for an industrial-scale solar operation, citing concerns over the project's impact on the rural community, protected wetlands, stormwater runoff into the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, and the potential for a derelict industrial site. The 260-megawatt output of the solar farm, once operational, is earmarked for Dotier LLC, a Meta subsidiary building a new data center approximately 150 miles away from Stockton, south of Montgomery, under a 25-year agreement with Alabama Power.
Despite the voters' action, Baldwin County officials assert that Silicon Ranch's project has "vested, grandfathered status" because permit applications were filed before the referendum. Fowler's group disputes this, arguing the permits are incomplete. Silicon Ranch maintains the project is fully permitted from the county's perspective. The $350 million solar development, set to begin major construction in 2027, will convert a portion of its footprint into grazing pasture for a sheep ranch and projects significant local tax revenue and temporary construction jobs.