When major developments come to town, local government has a duty to ensure the public has ample advance notice.

Less than two weeks for a 400-acre development hardly seems like enough time. And for that reason, Rowan County commissioners should listen to staff and public comments during Monday’s meeting, table consideration of a massive solar farm and return in two weeks ready to receive more input before making a decision.

A company named China Grove Solar is proposing to build a solar farm that would be situated on 428 acres off of Sherrill’s Ford Road and between Salisbury, China Grove and Cleveland. It’s an area that the current zoning designation describes well — rural and agricultural. There are some businesses, but the area mostly contains single-family homes.

Meanwhile, the solar farm looks like it would be one of the larger ones in the state. A solar farm in Monroe that’s operated by Duke Energy is located on 400 acres and generates 60 megawatts, according to the company’s website. Another Duke Energy facility near the eastern North Carolina town of Warsaw sits on 550 acres. In Anson County, according to a 2017 news release from Dominion Energy, there’s a 550-acre solar farm near the South Carolina border.

The existing facilities in Rowan County are much smaller, with power generation numbers in the single digits. The China Grove Solar facility is projected to be 65 megawatts, enough to power several thousand homes.

But the facility’s size shouldn’t spell its doom. Solar farms are good investments in our energy and economic future, producing electricity with little to no negative affects on the environment. The facility will also bring millions in investment and a relatively minimal burden on emergency services.

There should, however, be conditions attached to its construction. Developers should screen the site with ample trees and shrubs. Commissioners should also ensure that construction has limited impacts on the lives of nearby property owners.

Those who live adjacent to and within eyeshot of the site may have other conditions to offer. And it’s critical that they have a chance to speak.

The good news is that commissioners will give them that chance during their meeting Monday at 6 p.m. in the county administration building — 130 W. Innes St.

But it’s questionable whether advance notice was adequate. The first notice provided by county government to residents was a letter mailed Wednesday, Sept. 4. Staff posted four signs on the property Thursday, Sept. 5. If people to whom letters were sent received and opened their letters by Friday, Sept. 6, that’s just 10 days between the first notice and Monday’s commissioners meeting — when the solar farm could receive final approval.

A staff report accompanying Monday’s agenda states that, according to the applicant, 30 people attended a community meeting on Aug, 1, but county commissioners shouldn’t consider meetings held by the developer when determining if there’s been adequate notice.

Commissioners should work to ensure the China Grove Solar development comes to fruition, but they shouldn’t have a final vote on the matter Monday.