(Spirit Lake)– The Dickinson County Planning and Zoning Commission this (Mon.) afternoon reviewed proposed revisions to conditional use permits proposed for any new construction of wind turbines in the county.
One of the proposed changes bringing the most discussion with is new setback requirements, prohibiting turbines from going up within 1.1 times of the tower height from a property line. Committee member Jim Blum said based on some studies he’s done, the tighter restriction would make a lot of land unsuitable for turbines. He says that would impact a lot of landowners, taking away their rights. Fellow board member Ericka Schultes argued the new setback is needed to help protect any future residential construction in those areas. Blum said there’s going to be a fine line between protecting rights on both sides of the issue. Other proposed revisions dealing with issues such as noise, flicker, decommissioning and other matters were also discussed and reviewed. Public input will be taken on the proposed changes at the commission’s next regular meeting, set for 10:00 am January 15th, 2024.
The commission also agreed today (Mon.) to hold a public hearing at that same session January 15th regarding a proposed ordinance regulating hazardous pipelines. That particular hearing will be held in the afternoon that day.
