Wind and Solar Leasing in Delaware County, Indiana

Few Indiana counties have fought over commercial solar siting as long, or as visibly, as Delaware County. Nearly two years to first adopt a solar ordinance, a moratorium in 2024, and a farmland acreage cap slashed from roughly 34,000 to 5,000 acres -- here's the documented history and what it means before you sign a lease or buy near a proposed site.

This page covers what's specific to Delaware County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.

Nearly two years to write the rules -- and the fight didn't end there

Delaware County officials spent nearly two years working through the specifics of how commercial solar development on agricultural land should be regulated before finally approving a solar zoning ordinance in December 2023. That's an unusually long drafting process by Indiana county standards, and it reflects how contentious the underlying question -- how much farmland should be available for utility-scale solar, and under what conditions -- turned out to be locally.

Adopting the ordinance didn't settle the matter. Continued, organized opposition from residents concerned about losing farmland pushed commissioners to pass a new moratorium on solar applications in September 2024, less than a year after the original ordinance took effect. Through 2025, the county restarted its ordinance-amendment process, with the Plan Commission working through a new version of the rules and sending it on to the Board of Commissioners -- meaning that, as of this page's last review, Delaware County's solar rules had been actively revised, paused, and revised again in the space of roughly two years.

The acreage cap: from 34,000 down to 5,000

The single most concrete, quantifiable outcome of this fight is a dramatic reduction in the total farm acreage countywide that's eligible for solar development: Delaware County Commissioners voted to cut that figure from roughly 34,000 acres to just 5,000 acres. That's not a modest tightening -- it represents an approximately 85% reduction in the land base available to solar developers under the county's own rules, and it's the clearest evidence available that sustained public opposition materially changed the county's approach rather than producing only cosmetic amendments.

Other changes discussed through the 2025 amendment process include new rules specifically for battery energy storage system (BESS) components of solar installations, a proposed 500-foot setback for BESS equipment, a 50-foot setback requirement for smaller private or on-farm solar installations (a category distinct from utility-scale commercial projects), and a property-value guarantee provision intended to protect neighboring landowners. Because this process was still active as of this page's last review, treat these as amendments under discussion rather than confirmed final ordinance language, and verify the current adopted text directly.

What this means for a landowner or buyer

If you own farmland in Delaware County and are weighing a solar lease offer, the acreage-cap reduction means a materially smaller share of the county's farmland is now eligible for a commercial solar project than was true as recently as 2023 -- worth knowing if a developer's pitch references older acreage-availability figures. Given how much the ordinance has changed in a short period, don't assume any single document a developer shows you reflects the county's current, final rules; confirm directly with the DMMPC's Planning and Zoning Department before treating a lease proposal's regulatory assumptions as settled.

If you're buying land near a proposed or existing solar site instead, ask the DMMPC directly whether any specific project remains active, was affected by the September 2024 moratorium, or would need to reapply under whatever version of the ordinance is now in effect. Separately, check with the County Recorder for any solar-lease easement already recorded against a specific parcel -- an existing easement generally survives a change in the underlying zoning ordinance and would need to be reviewed on its own terms regardless of what the county's current rules say about new projects.

Wind and Solar Energy Leasing in Delaware County, Indiana

Nearly two years to write the rules -- and the fight didn't end there

The acreage cap: from 34,000 down to 5,000

What this means for a landowner or buyer

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