Permanent, until inconvenient.

A Native Growth Area covenant protected part of this property in 2010. A recorded land division established additional open-space protections in 2012. OPALCO bought the property in March 2025, with those protections already in place.

These commitments helped define where development could occur and which areas would remain protected. Our community relies on recorded land-use and environmental protections when we buy property, build homes and invest in our future.

OPALCO asked the County to redraw the open-space boundaries to accommodate its solar project. On October 1, 2026, the County approved that unprecedented revision.

The revised layout counts land already protected by the Native Growth Area covenant toward replacement open space, while moving open-space protection away from forest slated for clearing.

A new outline on a map cannot replace the forest inside the old one.

If the County can gerrymander protected open space around a new owner’s project, what confidence can any landowner have in those recorded commitments?

OPALCO should fit its project to the land’s protections. Honor the recorded commitments. Keep the forest standing.