"Today, I am announcing that I am vetoing the council's decision," she said during a quickly announced press conference in the government center Friday.
Gorton has long been skeptical of the need to expand solar into the city's signature rural periphery. Her position has aligned with groups such as the Fayette Alliance, which argues the soil in the surrounding areas is too valuable to cover up with solar arrays.
Gorton said she worries about what further developments the Zoning Ordinance text amendment passed by council could usher in.
"For me, this is not about solar at all. This is 100% about approving an industrial use on our agricultural zone," the mayor said. "It has never been done because we have other places for industry. And this really opens the door and sets a precedent for manufacturing other industrial uses if a future council would want to approve those."
The wisdom of the move has proven to be a long-running debate among city leaders, and the 8-7 vote on the new rules revealed a conflicted council.
The amendment comes with strict requirements for potential rural solar projects, capping the total acreage at 1,800, or roughly 1% of Fayette County's farmland.
During the debate over the change, Councilmember Emma Curtis said ultimately the city needs to get serious if it wants to make progress toward its environmental goals.
"I would prefer to see rooftop solar first. I want to see solar built out in all of these areas, but we also can't rely on the goodwill of corporations who are disinterested in preserving our planet," she said.
And the council still has a chance to reinstate the new rural solar strategy. Nine votes are needed to overturn Gorton's veto, meaning one additional council member would need to sign on.
The city's charter says the vote to override must come within a "reasonable" amount of time. The mayor said she expects the law department to interpret that wording as extending to the council's next meeting.
