Judge to decide Coggon Solar case in next couple of months

It will be a couple of months before planners behind a Coggon solar project will know whether they can proceed with construction.

Attorneys met at the Linn County Courthouse on Thursday to argue a case brought by a Coggon family against the Linn County Board of Supervisors and Coggon Solar LLC. Sixth Judicial District Court Judge David Cox said he will rule on the case in the next couple of months.

Progress on the 640-acre solar farm near Coggon is on hold while the court deliberates on a ruling.

The utility-scale solar farm three miles west of Coggon is a partnership between Idaho-based Clenera and Central Iowa Power Cooperative. The project — named Coggon Solar LLC — would be dismantled after 35 years. It is planned for land that property owners voluntarily leased to Coggon Solar.

The supervisors approved the project in January.

In July, the Iowa Utilities Board denied Coggon Solar LLC’s request for a certificate of public convenience, use and necessity until the court acts on the family’s lawsuit, which was filed in February. The certificate is the permit that authorizes Coggon Solar LLC to operate a public facility within the area and is typically designated for public utilities or similar entities.

The family — Martin Robinson, Paula Robinson, Tom Robinson and Laura Robinson — filed an appeal and initiated a certiorari proceeding in Linn County District Court to challenge the zoning decision.

Certiorari is the court process of seeking judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. The Iowa Supreme Court recognizes that ”certiorari may be a proper remedy for reviewing the legality of decisions made by city councils and county board of supervisors in zoning matters.”

The family, through their attorney Greg Geerdes, accuses the county supervisors of not following the land-use regulations of Linn County and Iowa Code. They say the material terms of the rezoning ordinance were repeatedly altered during meetings and therefore not considered three times as ordinances are required to be. They also argue the ordinance constitutes “spot zoning.“

The Robinson family also has pending litigation against Central Iowa Power Cooperative over damaged drainage tile, which they argue was due to the construction of a substation built in the mid 2010s. That case is scheduled for a hearing in September 2023.

The county’s attorney, Elena Walford, argued that the supervisors have broken no laws and have considered the county’s comprehensive plan in deciding on the rezoning actions.

“The evidence is so overwhelming toward nuisance and the effort Linn County has put toward rezoning to work tirelessly to make this the most positive thing for as many residents as possible. There has been no record that anything the board did was discriminatory,” Walford said during closing arguments.

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