County Declares Moratorium On Wind Farm Applications

By Gordon Hopkins With the possibility of future wind farm applications looming, Jefferson County Commissioners have decided to institute a six-month moratorium on wind farm applications, effective immediately. Commissioners voted unanimously for the moratorium at their meeting on Tuesday, September 15, feeling it was necessary to review and, if necessary, revise the policies that govern the placing of wind turbines within the county.County Commissioner Mark Schoenrock said the primary driver of this decision is the changing technology for wind turbines. Newer turbines can be considerably taller that they were at the time regulations were originally set.Commissioner Michael Dux said he was aware of some proposed turbines being up to 570 feet tall, “The existing Steele City Flats that we have, those towers are only 400 feet tall.”“The whole reason for this is these new towers, we've been told, are going to be 150 feet taller than what we've got over here in our current wind farms,” said Schoenrock. “Jefferson County has planning and zoning regulations that do address wind farms, but we have been made aware of some pretty significant advancements in the wind farm technologies since the time that we approved our planning and zoning regulations to address this last time. And so we believe that it's a good idea for our Planning and Zoning Committee to review our regulations, in light of these advancements in the technology, and to ensure that our regulations strike that balance to protect our citizenry, and yet make it so that it would be possible for wind farms to be here in the county.”Commissioners identified three issues that they want the Planning and Zoning Committee to review. Schoenrock said, “One would be the setbacks, the setbacks issue. Second would be the sound issue, and the number of decibels at a certain distance from the towers. And then the third is to ensure that the companies that come in with wind developments, that they have a good decommissioning plan, and one that is appropriately funded to pay for the decommissioning at such time when the when the farm is no longer in operation.”The Planning and Zoning Committee is expected to make recommendations to Commissioners in approximately five months. At least one hearing is planned to allow for public input.

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