The Impact
Shelby Township is a special place. The people who live here value the quiet beauty, the wildlife, and the farmland that has supported families for generations.
But now, a foreign-owned developer wants to build an industrial-scale solar facility on prime farmland surrounded by homes—threatening our land, water, property values, and way of life.
What's the problem?
The problem is location and scale: this very massive industrial-scale project does not belong in productive agricultural fields surrounded by residential homes.
It will destroy prime farmland in exchange for production of electricity that will be used elsewhere and could also be produced in other, sunnier, less agricultural places.
There’s also economic loss for farm-related businesses, reduced property values, soil erosion, drainage, and groundwater issues, harm to wildlife, and visual aesthetics.
Property values drop, but taxes don’t.
Studies show values decrease near industrial solar sites. Yet assessments stay the same — meaning neighbors lose equity while still paying full taxes.
These projects don’t build community — they choke future growth.
When land meant for homes, farmland, natural resources, or small businesses is blocked by walls of solar panels, our community gets boxed in. Smart residential growth dies, school enrollment drops, development stops.
Some homes will be surrounded on 3–4 sides by fencing and panels — for life.
Some homes will be surrounded on 2-3-4 sides by fencing and solar panels — for life. Families who’ve built their lives here will lose their views, privacy, and peace— in return for industrial fencing and endless rows of metal.
Destroys Prime Farmland
Construction of this project will destroy hundreds of acres of topsoil, damage miles of drain tiles, create erosion, ponding, flooding, and possible water contamination.
What harm will come from the project?
Public Health and Safety
Increased erosion and drainage issues in and around the fields will potentially cause more frequent ponding and flooding and possible contamination of the Teays Aquifer, source of water for Tippecanoe County. Roads will crumble under the heavy load during installation, maintenance, and decommissioning. Hidden in this project request are Battery Energy Storage System installations (BESS) facilities, which represent serious safety and fire risks to nearby residents and anyone downwind from a battery storage system fire. Noise from over 50 inverters will provide continual auditory disruption.
Reduced Property Value
Studies have found that homes within 1/2 mile of solar installations see a decrease in property value, and that the impact is more pronounced when the solar replaces agricultural land, as is the case here. Additional residential and commercial growth, and the accompanying taxes, will also be reduced when farm fields are paved over with solar panels.
Consistent with the character of the district
The character of the district, for over 100 years, has been wide open agricultural land interspersed with wooded areas with homes, supporting businesses, small towns, wildlife, recreational, and educational areas. About 100 residences are within a quarter-mile of the proposed installation, with another 100 within a half-mile.
This plan calls for almost 275,000 individual solar panels, mounted 15 feet high, covering fields for almost three square miles. There is also an additional transfer/substation planned to be built in the middle of a residential neighborhood. None of this is not consistent with the character of the district.
Wildlife
Shelby Township is home to a healthy population of wildlife. Mammals include beavers and squirrels; carnivores like coyotes, foxes, and bobcats; and ungulates like white-tailed deer. Bats and many species of birds, including turkeys, are also home in the area.
Solar installations have negative impacts on wildlife by disrupting natural travel and migration corridors and fragmenting habitats. Birds can be attracted to the reflective surfaces of solar panels, leading to injury.
Solar fields can alter vegetation and insect abundance, impacting the diets of some species. Construction and maintenance activities also create noise pollution that can interfere with wildlife communication and behavior.
We're Fighting to Protect What Matters:
Our Farmers
Our Homes & Community
Our Growth
The farmland in this county feeds over 58,000 people
every year. It supports 800 local
residents who make their living from the soil. This project destroys
farmland forever — not for food, but for federal subsidies.
Families will be surrounded on 2, 3,
or 4 sides by solar panels and
fences — for life — with no benefit
and declining property values.
Property taxes won’t go down, but
quality of life will.
This project chokes off the county’s
ability to grow responsibly. Fields
that could support housing, schools,
or businesses will be locked down
for 40 years.
Our Water & Wetlands
Our Infastructure
Stormwater runoff, pesticide use, and erosion from massive solar fields threaten clean water, wetlands, and the fragile ecosystems that sustain
migratory birds and local wildlife.
County roads, culverts, and
underground drainage systems will bear the brunt of industrial-scale construction. We’ll pay the price — in tax dollars and damage.