Opposition group attends Boone County work session on wind farm regulations
Members of a group that calls itself the “Concerned Citizens of Boone County, Mo.” were some of those who attended a Boone County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Wednesday ngiht to discuss wind farm regulations.
The conversations about regulations comes as E.ON Climate and Renewables is looking into the possibility of building a wind turbine farm in Harrisburg. This would include individual leases with landowners in order to build turbines on their property.
One focus of the Planning and Zoning Commission at the work session was to discuss how they should define “setbacks” for the wind turbines.
“A setback, just by definition, is going to be a distance between two points, and in the scope of this, we have setbacks in all of our regulations,” commission chair Boyd Harris said. “How close you can be to a property line, and that’s just one of a myriad of elements that we’re looking at.”
This was the second of six hearings to discuss the proposals. The meeting was open to the public. A few members of the group opposing the farm, including landowners who will potentially be affected, attended the meeting.
The group recently made signs speaking against the turbines. Some homeowners in Harrisburg have posted them in their yards and there is also a large banner posted on Route E. One activist brought signs to the meeting.
The commission has been looking over ordinances from counties that have their own wind farms. Harris said they will use these ordinances in forming their own regulations. Once the regulations are formed, there will be three public hearings to accept comments.
The next meeting will be held next Tuesday, April 30, at 5:00 p.m. at the Boone County Council Chambers.
