The Clarke County Board of Supervisors approved 3-0 on Aug. 19 scheduling a public hearing for the purposes of proposed amendments to Section 23, “Wind Energy Conversion Systems Regulations,” of the zoning ordinances of Clarke County. The public hearing will take place at 10 a.m. on Mon., Sept. 9 at the Clarke County Courthouse.
A moratorium on the construction/installation of wind turbines in Clarke County has been in effect since June 2023. During that time, work has been done on the current ordinances including updating setbacks, decommissioning and a road use agreement.
Proposed changes
At least two public meetings regarding wind turbines have been held since last August, with the supervisors, county zoning administrator and county engineer on hand to address questions and hear opinions from the public.
The noted changes for the Sept. 9 meeting include:
• An increased setback requirement for turbines from property lines, dwellings and public roads. The setback will be 2,000 feet, or 1.5 times the height of the tower, whichever is greater. The setback can be less if an adjoining lawn owner signs a waiver.
• Turbines must be setback from a town, lake or public park by at least two miles.
• The maximum height for a turbine is 700-feet.
• Lights on the turbine will operate when an aircraft is nearby.
• The permit process has been revised, which will include opportunities for public input. There will also be a permit fee of $2,500 for wind towers.
• A new road-use agreement as designed by the county engineer. This will include a maintenance and repairs agreement as it relates to the development of a wind farm. It will state who is responsible for maintenance, repairs and reconstruction of secondary roads, as well as a timeline for completion.
• The process of decommissioning a wind tower has been updated, including a part that notes that the property owner will be responsible for taxes if the wind turbine is abandoned by the company that put it up.
Financial surety will be required by the either year following the date of application, or after the construction of a turbine is completed. This will be to cover the cost not only the cost of the decommissioning, but also have five years of estimated future property tax liability. Financial surety can only be released after conditions of a decommissioning plan have been met. A wind turbine is considered not in service when it has not been in operation and producing electricity for at least 180 consecutive days.
• In the county, there will be a limit of 400-acres for solar fields total.
• Some other changes that were discussed at earlier meetings and added to the proposed changes include that noise is not to exceed 60 decibels.
The public is invited to attend the meeting. Written comments may be remitted to zoning administrator Rob McCaulley at his office - 109 S. Main St., Osceola - or by email, rmccaulley@clarkecountyiowa.com.
A complete text of the proposed amendments is available during regular business hours at the Clarke County Zoning Office.
Other counties
wind changes
Clarke County is not the only Southern Iowa county that has looked at its wind energy ordinances in recent years.
Both Union and Adams County have been working on their wind ordinances over the past couple of years. Currently, both counties have turbines, but have added more restrictions to turbine construcion.
In late July, the Adams County Board of Supervisors approved that “no shadow flickers will be allowed on the houses of non-participating landowners.” A shadow flicker is an event where the tower and blades create a shadow. They also approved the depth for buried infrastructure - power lines must be 72 inches deep, and when a tower is decommissioned, any items 48 inches below the surface must be removed. This worked to address concerns over accessing tile lines in fields.
Adams County also approved a maximum of 400 acres for solar fields for the county.
In Union County, wind ordinance changes were approved by the Union County Board of Supervisors in May. These changes were made after the county’s first 34 turbines were erected in 2020; they enacted a suspension of new turbine projects in March 2023, which lasted until July 2024.
Changes to their ordinances included requiring new turbines to have an aircraft lighting detection system, which will cause the lights to activity when an aircraft is in the area and until it has safely passed. The lights must be able to tailor their intensity level based on surrounding visibility.
An archaeological survey must be completed in a one-mile radius of a new tower’s proposed site and recorded with the state archaeologist; the survey will be paid by the applicant for the turbine permit.
Setback requirements were also changed. Turbines must now be no less than .62 miles, 3,273.6 feet, or seven times the total height of the tower, whichever is greater, from an adjoining property line, unless a waiver is signed by the neighbor.
Landowners will be responsible for any taxes on a tower that is no longer operating and haven’t been paid. Union County’s ordinance on an abandoned turbine is similar to what Clarke County is proposed - any turbine that has not been productive for 180 days.
Shadow flickers were also discussed, but nothing was decided at this time.
Creston News Advertiser contributed to this article.