The Pulaski County Advisory Plan Commission will continue working on updates to the county’s wind turbine regulations tonight. The goal is to come up with a list of proposed changes to the county’s Unified Development Ordinance, to address concerns over a proposed wind farm. But after multiple meetings, the plan commission still hasn’t created anything solid enough to present for a public hearing.
Members have agreed on a setback distance of four times the structure’s overall height measured from the property line, as well as a nighttime noise limit of 40 decibels. Representatives from wind energy developer RES say those regulations would be too restrictive to allow the project in question to proceed.
However, the plan commission still hasn’t decided what to do about several other proposed changes, including setbacks for non-commercial wind operations, flicker issues, turbines’ impact on drainage tiles, and what happens when a wind turbine is decommissioned. The plan commission hopes to narrow down those proposals during tonight’s work session. If they’re able to complete that process tonight, the proposed changes will be released to the public, who would have a chance to comment on them during a hearing on June 21.
Tonight’s Pulaski County Advisory Plan Commission work session starts at 7:00 EDT at the Pulaski County Highway Garage. The meeting is open to the public, but commission members don’t plan to accept public input.
