Wind Farm Meetings to Recommence This Month

By Gordon HopkinsThe Jefferson County Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Committee will reconvene on Thursday, January 12, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. in the courtroom of the Jefferson County Courthouse, to further review wind farm regulations.There is currently a moratorium on new wind turbine permits as the Planning and Zoning Committee review the regulations currently in place. The moratorium is scheduled to end in April of 2023, although commissioners could choose to extend the moratorium or end it early.One of the purposes of the moratorium was to give the public an opportunity to provide input.John McKee, Jefferson County’s Emergency Manager and Zoning Administrator, advised county commissioners on Tuesday, December 27, 2022, that it may take more than one meeting, “Not sure how they're going to handle this, because it's a public meeting, but we're probably going to hear all the same stuff again. Depends on who becomes chairman, what happens. Usually, I've got an idea going into these meetings, but I have no idea what's going to happen.”Once P&Z has completed their review of the regulations, they will make recommendations to county commissioners, who must approve the changes before they go into effect.Wind turbine regulations have been a contentious issue. McKee said to the commissioners, “They're (P&Z) here for the county. They're here to make decisions for the county, not to come with their own personal agendas. They need to weigh all the views. And you've mentioned that many times. And I have concerns sometimes with that. Hopefully, that's what will happen.”Among the regulations under consideration are for setbacks. A number of people have indicated their preference for greater setbacks from such locations as churches, schools and parks. Increased setbacks could make the placing of wind turbines on certain properties more difficult, or even impossible. This concerns those landowners who have the opportunity to lease their land to wind energy companies. Jefferson County Commissioners have stated their intention to “strike a balance” with the new regulations.County Attorney Joseph Casson has expressed the opinion in prior meetings that the county cannot make regulations so restrictive that they effectively make it impossible to place wind farms in Jefferson County. McKee echoed that stance, “You know, as Joe has said before, and I totally agree with it, is the regulations are not to be restrictive. They're to regulate. Hopefully, the (P&Z) committee will come to that determination. But I still feel that there's still a lot of personal agendas coming into it, instead of opening their minds and looking at the overall view, just from some of the comments that have been made.”Commissioners have opted not to attend the P&Z meeting on the advice of McKee. Commissioner Michael Dux said, “We need to emphasize that this is not pro or con windmills. This is setting the standard. That's all it is. And we really shouldn't have any comments that night, pro or against. We're just setting the standard.”

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