Johnson County officials are placing a three-year moratorium on commercial wind farm projects.
The Johnson County Plan Commission on Monday sent a unanimous favorable recommendation to the Board of Commissioners for a three-year minimum moratorium on commercial wind farm projects. Before the moratorium is finalized, the commissioners will need to take action on it at a future meeting.
The subject came up because the commissioners sent a memo to the plan commission requesting them to consider a moratorium. This was suggested so the plan commission would have adequate time to review the standards for commercial wind farm projects before any projects are potentially submitted for consideration.
The plan commission recently adopted a new Unified Development Ordinance, which includes standards on the structure, setbacks, use and operations and nuisances for wind energy systems. During this conversation, it was mentioned that more research into this area was needed to put in place guidelines for these projects.
In the memo, the commissioners recommended putting height restrictions on wind energy systems and accompanying adjustments to set back requirements, and exploring what types of regulations to implement so the land can be redeveloped if a wind energy system is decommissioned.
“Johnson County remains one of the fastest growing counties in the State of Indiana and the commissioners wish to see that large tracts of land are not used for commercial wind farms when the land could be put to better use for affordable housing in Johnson County,” the letter reads. “The Johnson County commissioners see the need for affordable housing as a need to secure adequate light, air and convenience of access, promoting the public health, safety, comfort, morals, convenience and the general welfare of Johnson County citizens.”
The commissioners believe that the potential for “tens of thousands of acres” to be tied up into commercial wind farms does not align with the county’s goals, according to the letter.
The letter states that counties like Boone, Carroll, Clinton, Madison, Howard, Pulaski, Tippecanoe and others have implemented moratoriums or bans on wind energy projects. There are no wind energy projects currently proposed in Johnson County.
During Monday’s plan commission meeting, no one spoke during public comment and there were only a couple of people in attendance.
Commission member Doug Gray asked whether there has been any impact studies on commercial wind farms in Johnson County and commission member Jonathan Myers asked about whether the topic of decommissioning was brought up in statements made about commercial wind farm projects. Hansard said there hasn’t been any impact studies done in the county and decommissioning is already part of the current standards.
“I’m assuming, based on that memo and kind of conversations that I’ve had with commissioners, they’ve been part of other networks … talked about wind farms and stuff like that,” Hansard said. “There are some concerns about how they impact development for towns and cities … They want us to ensure our standards are in place that would actually protect and could protect development and future development and provide opportunities that are better suited for this county.”
Hansard also mentioned that previously the commissioners asked how a wind farm gets approved and she said she thinks the commissioners want wind farm projects to be considered by them and not just the Johnson County Board of Zoning Appeals. Currently, commercial wind energy systems need to seek special exception approval from the BZA before construction.
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