MATHESON, Colo. — Residents in Matheson, Colorado, are worried about two proposed solar projects right next to their farmland and what it could mean if they get approved.
Residents emailed Denver7 citing concern over the 6,000-acre sites and what they could mean for farmland in the area, water runoff, property values, and taking away the natural beauty some have called home for generations.
Watch Tyler Melito's report in the video player below:
"Why take some of the best ground we have in Elbert County for producing wheat and millet and grazing ground for our cattle, and why just cover it in glass?" Clint Buhring told Denver7's Tyler Melito. "We've got good people up here; good families, lots of history, and I mean, there's families up here been farming this ground for 100 plus years."
Wayne Brown, another resident whose family has also called the area home for generations.
"The land value is going to go straight in the toilet ... it takes all the production right out of it. There's a lot of things that the county's not looking at, as far as the impacts of what these," Brown said. "All they care about is that they get their money out of it; it's money for Elbert County, so it's good for them. They don't care about what it's going to do to the ground."
Brown and Buhring both added that while they support renewable sources of energy, they don't understand why it needs to be in their pocket of Colorado.
"If you're going to implement this on us, you need to be in the middle of it. You need to live what we are," Brown said.
"Why not a place like Crowley County down in Ordway?" asked Buhring. "They had their water stolen from another big operation several years ago, and nothing grows down there but rattlesnakes and hurt feelings."
Terry Ashcraft, another long-time resident, added insight into the difference between solar panels and the already existing wind turbines in Elbert County.
"Unlike the wind farms — the wind farms included in the line — they included a lot of people, so they shared out that wealth, so to speak, and when they did that, it allowed them to get more land," Ashcraft told Melito. "In this case, there might be — by the time the first three projects would be done — there'd be 12,000 acres, and these people surrounded will want to sell."
He added that if the Elbert County Board of County Commissioners approves the project proposed by Staten Solar, it would open the floodgates.
"There will be a precedent set if they allow the first one to go," said Ashcraft. "How are they going to tell the Hendricks one over there that they cannot have one?"
Melito reached out to Staten; they did not respond at the time of writing.
He also reached out to Elbert County. A spokesperson said per state law, the commissioners are not allowed to comment on a land-use application outside of the public hearing process.
During their Sept. 23 Land Use meeting, the commissioners voted unanimously to hold off on voting on the project in order to hear more about the effects a solar project like this could have on water.
That meeting is set for Oct. 14.
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