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RABUN — Locals gathered in Rabun on the evening of Thursday, May 14, to discuss a solar farm project that has been the talk of the town this spring.The proposed project, which includes two … This item is available in full to subscribers.RABUN — Locals gathered in Rabun on the evening of Thursday, May 14, to discuss a solar farm project that has been the talk of the town this spring.The proposed project, which includes two large-scale solar farm sites, covers 4,500 acres in the North Baldwin area near the intersection of Interstate 65 and Alabama Highway 59.As previously reported by GCM, it was approved by the Alabama Public Service Commission in December, and the developments are tied to Meta Platforms' Montgomery data center through its subsidiary Dotier LLC.Together, the projects are expected to generate about 260 megawatts of power and are scheduled to be operational by the end of 2028.Silicon Ranch, the project developer based in Nashville, Tennessee, will construct the facilities and connect them to Alabama Power's grid.Since the project came to light, it has been met with community backlash, with residents questioning the impacts it will have on the environment and how it will benefit the community.Meagen Fowler, president of the grassroots organization Friends of the Tensaw River, was critical of the proposed solar farm, accusing the corporations involved of targeting small, unincorporated communities."They're headquartered in big cities, and they're going after unzoned unincorporated land because there's no protections for them," Fowler said."It's an easy grab, and they think these rural communities don't have a way to organize, that we're too few and too spread out to have much Fowler also brought up environmental concerns regarding the project, including electrical fencing that would surround the property, saying it will disrupt wildlife migration patterns and pose a threat to waterways and tree life.The site for the project is located on privately owned land in an unzoned area of Baldwin County, which limits the county commission's ability to regulate land use.County officials do not have authority to block development in unincorporated, unzoned areas, though permits related to land disturbance, flooding and wetlands are required under county ordinances.State Sen.Greg Albritton, R-22, who represents Bay Minette and unincorporated communities in North Baldwin such as Rabun and nearby Stockton, attempted to pass legislation last month regulating solar farm projects within the state, including a moratorium that would temporarily pause new projects for a year.The bill failed to progress before the end of the legislative session.SB 354, which would have prohibited the construction and operation of new solar farm projects for one year, passed the Senate on April 7 by a vote of 27-4, with Baldwin County's three senators all voting in favor of the bill and Sen.Chris Elliot, R-32, signing on as a sponsor.Albritton told those in attendance on Thursday that because of the timeframe of the session, he had to have unanimous consent from everybody in the Senate in order to get the bill transmitted to the House.He said he is already working on solutions to try and implement regulations, including tighter requirements on maintaining and managing solar property and changes to the public notice requirements for such projects, including requiring notice through either local publications or through direct mail notification to residents.As for what they plan to do next, Fowler said at the meeting that the property has not officially been sold to Silicon Ranch just yet.They have only been presented with an option to buy, which they say expires later this year.Fowler said Friends of the Tensaw River's legal counsel sent a memorandum to Baldwin County Commission asking for a temporary moratorium to try and pause the development.She said the commission is "doing their due diligence" on if it would stand up in court, having also sent an expedited letter to Attorney General Steve Marshall for his opinion."If the [attorney general] has a positive opinion, they can proceed and we will have some time to get our bearings on this thing, research it better, get some studies done and hopefully stall it enough to mess up their time," Fowler said.