Tuesday’s first step is for planning commission to hear comments and make a recommendation about the length of the proposed wind system moratorium
Tuesday’s meeting of the Henderson City-County Planning Commission will be a beginning point for what could turn out to be a long process to establish regulations regarding wind energy systems in the county—and it could be one of the more emotionally-charged processes we’ve seen locally for years.
Evidence to the emotion surrounding the wind turbines is a Facebook page dedicated to stopping wind turbines and any more renewable energy installations from locating in Henderson County. The Facebook page is called “Henderson Ky. is not Cordelios guinea pig.” Contributors regularly make posts in all manner of dissent against more renewable energy companies locating in the county.
Connected to the page are residents of Niagara and other areas in the eastern part of Henderson County who have gathered for one community meeting to discuss the ramifications of a wind energy system locating in the county.
Lisa Meyer organized that first meeting, which was held in a barn on her family land in Niagara. She said in a recent conversation with the Hendersonian that she’s going to push for a 2-year moratorium on any applications or issuance of permits related to wind energy systems at Tuesday’s planning commission meeting.
The Henderson County Fiscal Court in July approved a resolution that would put in place a 1-year moratorium on permits and applications. The fiscal court then sent the issue to the planning commission and asked that body to make a recommendation about the 1-year moratorium. That will be the order of business Tuesday.
Some local officials have said one year may not be enough. At the July 24 fiscal court meeting, County Attorney Steve Gold said the resolution was a starting point because it could take the planning commission some time to do its due diligence with this complex issue.
Furthermore, Frank Boyett, a member of the planning commission board, said at August 5’s meeting, “I’m wondering if a year is enough time.”
“That’s something we’re going to discuss,” responded David Dixon, the chair of the planning commission.
The proposed 1-year moratorium is the focus of Tuesday’s planning commission meeting. In fact, local officials have said—while urging those who wish to speak Tuesday to understand—that this first meeting is a public hearing specifically about the moratorium and the definitions involved in wind energy systems and nothing more than that.
Both Planning Commission Executive Director Brian Bishop and Planning Commission Attorney Tommy Joe Fridy said that comments on topics regarding the regulations of wind turbines, such as effects that it could have on health, wildlife impacts, shadow flicker and more, will need to come at a later meeting. That later meeting will be held specifically to gather facts that will be used to create wind regulations.
If comments dealing specifically with aspects surrounding the regulation of wind energy systems are given at Tuesday’s meeting, they won’t be a part of the record the planning commission will use to create the wind regulations. According to officials, those statements would need to be given again at the later meeting for the resident’s comments to be a part of the official record used to craft wind energy systems regulations.
Regarding the public hearing to gather facts to craft wind energy systems regulations, no date has yet been set. For one, planning commission officials are focusing only on Sept. 2’s public hearing.
But beyond that, the public hearing regarding regulations will require finding subject matter experts to testify. Officials have said they want to find experts both in favor of the wind energy systems and those opposed. There could be the need to have officials from state agencies present. And then, there’s the question of who is paying for the experts to get to the meeting—not to mention coordinating with all of them to arrive on the same night, Bishop said.
“I would not expect it to be a fast process,” he said.
To that end, it could even end up having to be a month-by-month process, as local officials locate experts and then find meeting dates on which they can attend, Bishop said.
But those meetings are in the future.
Previously, Dixon said that the planning commission might make a recommendation to keep the moratorium at one year, or it could recommend two years, or even longer.
Bishop said it’s his goal to introduce a motion for a 2-year moratorium at Tuesday’s meeting. But he also said that he wouldn’t introduce it without the consent of Dixon, who may wish to hear all the public comments before any motions are allowed to be made.
A final note, for now, is a push from many residents who are opposed to wind energy systems to simply stop it all in its tracks now. Just outlaw them. Comments like that have been made on Facebook throughout the summer.
Schneider and Gold, though, say that’s not possible. The process, including public hearings, must play out.
“We’re following the law,” Schneider said.
Gold, additionally, said that a proposed text amendment of a zoning regulation must go to the planning commission first. Zoning for wind energy systems would be an amendment to the county’s zoning ordinances as its own chapter, Gold said.He cited Kentucky Revised Statutes 100.211.
“The only way to amend it is this way,” the county attorney said.
On the heels of the first step of what could be a very long process, Schneider called the issue “one of the most notable” he’s dealt with since he became judge-executive in 2016.
He said no fiscal court members will speak at any of the planning commission public hearings and meetings. If that were to occur, he and other officials have said, it could disqualify a magistrate from voting on the issue at future fiscal court meetings.
But, he assured, all will be watching on the internet, and they will have access to the transcripts when they are sent over after the planning commission makes its recommendation. He said residents will have the opportunity to get their message across.
Gold, the county attorney since 2008, said he was shocked, like many, when he saw a maximum footprint of 90-something wind turbines close to 700 feet tall over the county. Being able to have residents’ voices heard is a “great thing” in the process of crafting new regulations and democracy is “best when it’s participatory.”
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The Henderson City-County Planning Commission meeting is 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Fiscal Court courtroom on the third floor of the old courthouse.
