The Garden City Telegram
Email this story | Add Your Comment
| Read (1) Comments
County may expand area for wind farms
Published 5/22/2009 in Local News : Business
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
Currently, wind farms are allowed only in industrial zones in Finney County.
Click to Purchase Photo Reprints!
Shajia Ahmad/Telegram — Turbines stand at the wind farm near Montezuma in Gray County. Finney County officials have received several inquiries about wind farms, though none have gotten to the permitting stage.
Click to Purchase Photo Reprints!
Shajia Ahmad/Telegram — Blades turn Thursday at the wind farm near Montezuma. Finney County officials are talking about changing zoning regulations to allow wind farms in agriculture areas. Now, wind farms are only allowed in industrial areas.
But the industrial zones aren't really where Tim Hamilton and Kaleb Kentner, with Planning and Community Development, had been receiving requests from companies exploring the option of a wind farm or monitoring wind speed to see if a particular area is ideal for that type of development.
Instead, a lot of inquiries are coming from people asking if wind farms are permissible in agriculturally-zoned areas.
On Thursday, the Holcomb/Garden City and Finney County Area Planning Commission took steps, including making the recommendation to the Finney County Commission, to allow wind farms in areas zoned as agriculture in the county. The change would allow wind farms as a conditional use in agriculturally zoned areas. The recommendation will come before the County Commission sometime in June, Hamilton said.
According to Hamilton and Kentner, Planning and Community Development staff attended a conference on April 17 sponsored by the Kansas Association of Counties in Salina. During the conference, staff learned that various counties throughout the state, but primarily in the north and central regions, already have established regulations on wind farms.
"Staff saw several presentations from a number of counties during the Salina conference — some with no zoning regulations in place — and concluded that issues such as road maintenance and payment in lieu of taxes are best resolved through a development agreement," a staff memo to the planning commission stated.
As part of the recommendation to allow wind farm developments in agricultural areas, the planning commission also is recommending the developments could be approved in the areas with provisions of a signed development agreement and stamped engineer's or architect's site plan.
Hamilton said the office will get three to four inquiries a year from people either wanting to develop a wind farm in the county or research the possibility of constructing a wind farm.
While there are no developments being proposed at this time, Hamilton said the last time the county formally visited the issue of wind farm development was several years ago when Sunflower Electric Power Corp. wanted to put up wind farm development as an option for its property. Sunflower is zoned industrial, he said, and the county and planning commissions, at that time, allowed wind farm development as a conditional use in industrial-zoned areas.
The idea of wind farms being allowed in agriculturally zoned areas was placed on the back burner.
Hamilton said the development agreement gives all parties involved, including the county and private company, an idea of who's responsible for what. Height variances may be approved through the Board of Zoning Appeals "in conformance with local and federal height requirements."
With a development agreement being included, County Administrator Pete Olson said, the county wants to ensure any impact from wind farm development on county infrastructure, such as roads, would be covered.
Olson said the developments do have an impact on county infrastructure, and by and large, reputable wind farms have the reputation of helping offset the development's impact on county infrastructure that typically results during the construction phase.
Found 1 comment(s)!
Wind Farms
This is real easy to figure out. Here goes , Put them where the most wind is at. And the most wind is out on the farms. Thats why it's called a WIND FARM. WOW is that Gene Sky smart!
Posted by: Gene Sky on 5/22/2009
Twitter Updates
