The Huntington County Commissioners approved 2-1 the revised wind energy section of the Huntington County zoning ordinance during their regular meeting Monday.
Huntington County Commissioner President Tom Wall said that it was "with a heavy heart" me made the decision to second the motion to approve the changes to the ordinance made by fellow commissioner Larry Buzzard.
Commissioner Rob Miller was the dissenting vote.
"I'm not totally satisfied with this (ordinance)," Wall said. "When this vote is done I'm going to be asking for some things to go back to the (Huntington County) Plan Commission."
Wall said his primary reason for voting yes had to do with his concern with setbacks, which were addressed in the new ordinance. The change of setbacks from residence to property line was one of the changes from the previous 2009 ordinance.
One of Wall's chief concerns with the new ordinance would be the possibility for waivers on certain parts of an application to set up an operation. Wall said he would not be willing to waive any part of the application.
Huntington Countywide Department of Community Development Director Mark Mussman explained that the formal requests to the Huntington County Board of Zoning Appeals to waive parts of the application remained in the final document. He likened the requests for waivers as requests for zoning variances in terms of being formal motions and added that the BZA would most likely not waive a study or application piece with any major impact.
"My feeling is that prior to making any kind of decision on wind energy development, the Board of Zoning Appeals will want as much information as they can to make an informed decision," Mussman remarked.
Another point Wall wanted to make sure was addressed was on decommissioning. Mussman said the language of the ordinance specified that a decommissioned turbine would be one inactive for six months. He explained that within that time frame a turbine must be in operation for at least 72 consecutive hours in order to be considered active and avoid the declaration.
Once considered decommissioned the operator would provide financing for decommissioning, which as part of the ordinance needs to be agreed to by the commissioners and the applicant of the development.
Wall spoke about the issue of noise levels, which was understood by both himself and Mussman on being something the commissioners could require an applicant to address.
"If you're next to the interstate, you already have a noise level," Wall said. "If you're back in secluded areas...there is a big difference, so I want to make sure that's addressed."
Wall mentioned that the commissioners, county highway or the county drainage board would have leverage on behalf of county citizens in regard to providing easements to companies setting up utility lines where those agencies have right-of-way.
Mussman said that future adjustments to the ordinance, such as adjusting setbacks or regarding decibel levels were possible to be made following the approval.