Ever since his northern Baltimore County neighbors learned that Dr. Ben Carson was planning to turn his $2.4 million home into a solar farm, the opposition has been ready to fight it.
They organized to testify at a hearing for a special exemption before the county’s zoning board, only to see it rescheduled several times and then canceled. Next, they prepared for a hearing at the Baltimore County Agriculture Advisory Board, where the solar company was to make the case for breaching an easement to access the farm. That, too, has twice been postponed.
In the meantime, the Maryland General Assembly passed — and Gov. Wes Moore signed — a law removing any local zoning shackles from solar farms. It takes effect next month.
Neighbors in the Boring community have not given up, though. They are girding themselves for the next chance to convince the county agricultural board to reject the request, though they have no idea when it will be.
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“It is pretty frustrating and counterproductive for us,” said Paul Merritt, president of the Hanover Road Association, who has been coordinating the hurry-up-and-wait for the meetings.
Here’s what you need to know about the Ben Carson Solar Farm.
Trump ridicules renewables. His former HUD secretary hasn’t exactly embraced them, either.
President Donald Trump has extolled the virtues of fossil fuels and implored his cabinet members to embrace “drill, baby, drill.” Carson, a famed neurosurgeon and onetime presidential candidate, served as secretary of Trump’s Department of Housing and Urban Development during his first term. He does not have a cabinet post in this administration, though he remains close to the president and lives near him in Florida. Trump recently named Carson to serve on his Religious Liberty Commission.
When he was HUD Secretary, Carson lamented a new rule California passed requiring solar panels on new homes.
“No doubt this will drive up prices for new homebuyers even further,” he told the executive board of the National Association of Home Builders in May 2018. “Why are we not surprised that when this was announced, solar panel stock shares jumped, while home builders’ shares fell?”
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He repeated the message while touring home developments across the country.
Carson’s softening solar stance
Carson, 73, became famous for his extraordinary surgical abilities and wrote the book “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story,” published in 1990. He was the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center at 33 and led the first surgical team to separate conjoined twins at age 37. He lived in the Upperco home for some time but no longer does.
In 2023, he entered into a contract to turn 33 acres of a 47-acre tract that he and his wife Lacena own there into a solar farm. The lease is with Nexamp, a Boston-based company, which declined to discuss how much the Carsons would make from their lease. Other companies that advertise online list annual lease rates of up to $4,500 per acre, meaning the Carson farm could net up to $148,000 a year.
With that kind of return, the Carsons could profit both from renting the home and the land, while also keeping the property. Carson and his attorney could not be reached for comment.
Local politicians have tried to rein in solar farms, but their authority has dimmed
The Maryland General Assembly passed a law this year that essentially puts the state in charge of solar facilities. Farmers pushed back and tried to convince the governor not to sign it, but he did. They then attempted to overturn the legislation on a referendum, but did not get the signatures turned in on time because the state agency overseeing the process provided an incorrect deadline date.
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Prior to the law, Baltimore County politicians regulated solar farms in several ways, including limiting their size or how many could be built in a particular council district. None of that will apply anymore. County Councilman Wade Kach, who represents the county’s northernmost and largely rural district, lamented the state overreach. But state officials say it’s necessary to reduce the red tape that is stopping solar companies from investing in Maryland, which is still importing 40% of energy from out of state.
The county agriculture board is the last hurdle, but no one knows when it will meet next
With local restrictions moot, and the state encouraging solar development, the only obstacle to the Carson farm now is the so-called Byerly easement. Since October 2005, Lippy Brothers Inc., a state corporation, has held an easement on an adjacent parcel of land. Because of the way the land is configured, Carson needs to access his solar farm through the 78-acre Byerly parcel.
What is the next step for the easement process?
The Baltimore County Agriculture Advisory Board only meets when it has business to discuss, according to Megan Benjamin, the county’s planner and land preservation administrator. The Carson farm was on the agenda for May 13, but was taken off due to a family emergency, Benjamin said. The next month, the board postponed its June 11 meeting because the landowner was out of the country, and it therefore had no business to discuss.
Benjamin said it will come back on the agenda when the landowner advises that he is ready to proceed. Pam Ecker, president of the Boring Community Association, said the board should meet and listen to residents and not let the solar company dictate terms.
“We have tried to meet with the ag board. They have dodged us. Their meetings are supposed to be public meetings, and they have canceled them,” Ecker said. ”They said they had no new business to discuss. Well, we had business to discuss."
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If the state is encouraging solar, is Baltimore County likely to follow suit?
Hard to say.
In 2005, Baltimore County paid the Lippy Brothers more than $312,000 for the easement on their property. The easement is a contract to preserve the land in perpetuity. Under the terms, the land is only to be used for agricultural-related purposes. Baltimore County routinely puts forth properties to preserve under a variety of land-preservation programs; keeping the land preserved is crucial to continued bipartisan support for these programs.
Ecker said she and her neighbors who have easements have agreed to these terms; why shouldn’t everyone else? In an interesting parallel, the easement is almost as lucrative as a solar farm: the price to preserve the Lippy Brothers’ 78 acres in 2005 was about $4,000 an acre.
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