Let’s Talk Setbacks!

At their March 2 meeting, the Maysville – Mason County Joint Planning Commission voted 5 – 2 “in favor of having solar in Mason County and proceeding to finalize how to regulate it”. Adopting appropriate setback regulations is a major requirement for Mason County to claim solar’s economic and environmental benefits.

In terms of land use planning, a setback is the minimum distance which a building or other structure must be set back from a street, road, or any other place or structure which is deemed to need protection.

Reviewing setbacks the JPC has set for other land uses will help set equitable setbacks for the solar land use. Other than the 5,280-foot setback the JPC used to block wind energy, the highest setback for any land use is 150 feet, and that is only for the I-2A land use where buildings may be up to 75 feet high plus loud noises and heavy vehicular traffic is expected.

Maysville Mason County Zoning Regulations already define these setbacks

Zoning District Setback Maximum Height
Front Side Rear
R-1A 25 15 20 35
R-1B 20 12 15 35
R-1C 15 10 10 35
R-1D 12 3 10 35
R-2 20 10 10 35
R-3 20 10 15 50
R-4A 15 10 10 35
R-4B 10 3 5 25
TH-1 20 10 10 35
MH 15 10 10 20
P-1 50 15 20 50
B-1 20 10 20 35
B-2 50 25 30 50
B-3 25 15 20 35
D-1 NONE NONE NONE 75
I-1A 75 50 50 50
I-1B 20 20 20 35
I-2A 150 50 50 75
I-2B 20 15 20 35
A-1 50 25 30 50
A-2 100 50 30 35
C 40 20 20 50
I-3 100 50 50 75
RR-1 50 25 30 35
RR-2 100 50 50 35
Cell Tower 10 10 10
Wind Energy 5,280 5,280 5,280

Section 406.2 of Maysville Mason County Land Use Ordinance (page 25) defines land use districts

See solar setbacks in other jurisdictions

All of Mason County will benefit from adopting reasonable setbacks.