The Henry County Planning Commission formally responded Thursday to a request from the Henry County Commissioners to review the current wind energy conversion system (WECS) ordinance that regulates industrial wind turbines.
The county commissioners voted April 12 to ask the planning commission to “review the WECS ordinance in its entirety.” The ordinance was a source of public contention for several months in 2016.
An appointed committee of local residents made a recommendation to change the ordinance, but the county commissioners dismissed their suggestions in March.
Darrin Jacobs, the county zoning administrator, told the planning commission Thursday that they are not legally obligated to take any action regarding the WECS ordinance without specific directions regarding what changes the county commissioners would like to see.
Planning commissioner Dan Roach recommended that they leave the existing ordinance as it is.
“Our current WECS ordinance is approaching 10 years,” commission member Randy Jones said. “A lot has changed in 10 years, both in this county and also to the industry. So I think there’s probably a need to look at it.”
The county planners spent several minutes discussing exactly what the review process would look like before they put the matter to a vote.
Justin Curley, another planning commission member, pointed out that any change to the ordinance has to ultimately pass the scrutiny of the county commissioners.
“They’ve had lots of time to discuss this. They’ve shown no appetite to make changes,” Curley said. “I don’t think I’m the only one who would love to get this behind us one way or the other. But if the commissioners have shown no appetite for it, are we just... I don’t know. I don’t want to see this go on forever, that’s all I’m saying.”
Dale Cole doubted whether any solution they came up with would satisfy everybody, but he didn’t think that should stop them from looking at the ordinance.
“I think we ought to give it a shot,” Cole said. “At least we can say we’ve tried. To do nothing is to do nothing.”
The planning commission voted 7-1 to review the WECS ordinance, with Roach voting against.
Planning commissioner Rachel Clark was hesitant to cast her vote without first having time to go over the existing ordinance.
“I’ll say yes, and we’ll see what happens with it,” Clark said.
Steve Rust, president of the planning commission, made sure each planning commissioner had a copy of the alternative wind ordinance that a group of concerned citizens drafted earlier this month. He also gave each member a copy of the current ordinance to look over before their next meeting.