PHOENIX — Republican lawmakers grilled the head of the Land Department Tuesday about why her agency is leasing state-owned land for solar development when they believe it should be sold off for needed residential development.
Rep. David Gowan said it makes no financial sense to designate some of the nearly 9.2 million acres of state land as best suited for solar farms when there is a pressing need for available land for housing in many areas of the state. Worse yet, the Sierra Vista Republican said, is these solar leases tie up the land for 30 years.
Exhibit No. 1 for him is a solar project planned on state land on the edge of Sierra Vista, an area of the state where he said residential growth has been capped.
