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Missouri county is a step closer to banning wind energy projects

February 20, 2020 By Missourinet Contributor

Members of the Buchanan County Planning and Zoning Commission in northwest Missouri have gone beyond proposing regulations for wind farms in the county. The commission, instead, has proposed banning wind farms in Buchanan County altogether.

Missouri county is a step closer to banning wind energy projects

The commission, meeting to discuss proposed regulations for commercial wind energy development, voted 8 to 4 to ban wind turbines. Its recommendation now goes to the Buchanan County Commission to consider.

The vote comes after 13 months of study which included hiring a consultant to draft proposed wind energy regulations.

Northwest Missouri has several large wind farms, including outside of Maryville and Burlington Junction in Nodaway County and Grant City in Worth County.

A group, Friends of Buchanan County, formed to fight against wind energy. The group argued wind power turbines made for a poor fit in a densely-populated county. It advocated a ban, but also gathered more than 700 signatures on petitions that called for a mile setback from property lines for commercial wind developments if the county did adopt regulations, a requirement which would have been difficult for any wind energy company to meet.

The County Commissioners and the Planning and Zoning Commission held two nights of public hearings last month on proposed wind regulations. All who testified opposed wind power development in Buchanan County. No one spoke in favor.

Previous stories:

Campaign launches to oppose wind turbines in Missouri county
https://wp.me/p16gMv-vRz

Missouri county slowly moves toward wind farm regulations
https://wp.me/p16gMv-vDv

By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph

Campaign launches to oppose wind turbines in Missouri county

November 20, 2019 By Alisa Nelson

A citizen’s group has kicked off a campaign aimed at heavily restricting wind turbines from being built in northwest Missouri’s Buchanan County. Turbines have not gone up in Buchanan County, but some companies have shown interest.

Campaign launches to oppose wind turbines in Missouri county

Anita Simon with the group ‘Friends of Buchanan County’ says a petition gathered asks County Commissioners to require a one-mile setback of wind power projects from property

“Because we believe that is a fair and reasonable distance to protect us from the ill effects from the wind turbines,” says Simon. “There’s many of those that I could list.”

Simon says the group is not against renewable energy.

“We don’t think it’s a good fit for this county. We have a highly populated rural area along with a fairly large urban center,” she says. “And, we just have feelings that it could impact this whole county as far as financially – it could be an economic downturn.”

The county does not have regulations on the books for wind farms. It will hold public hearings before finalizing regulations, likely sometime next year.

Far northwest Missouri is the only slice of the state with wind turbines.