Thus, Applicant shall take measures to ensure the protection of Said sites. The CUP shall avoid cultural, historical and archaeological sites. The society is seeking the preservation of historic sites, with the proposed language: The Harvey County Historical Society came before the planning commission to ask for changes. Those were considered, along with other regulations in surrounding counties. There are bans in surrounding counties – Sedgwick and McPherson counties have a total moratorium while portions of Reno, Butler and Marion counties have partial bans. The planning and zoning commission began looking at the county and alternative energy regulations.ĭuring the July 12 meeting of the planning and zoning board, members reported requests from county residents to ban commercial wind farms in Harvey County. The commission passed a resolution setting limits on where permits could be issued. In September NextEra Energy announced the company would evaluate Harvey County for a wind energy project, though has not discussed how many turbines or locations that project may include. “The state legislature could preempt anything we do,” said commissioner Don Schroeder. “… That could cause us to make adjustments.
“The chairman mentioned six months and that might be prudent for this reason: by then we will know of anything prefiled by the state,” Westfall said. It is unknown if those bills will be resubmitted in the next session. It can also be rescinded by a vote of the commission.Īll regulations created by the county would also be subservient to possible state regulations for wind farms – and there were bills worked in the last Kansas legislative session to regulate wind farms. The moratorium would not allow for a wind energy project to be permitted, and would have a time limit in place for the moratorium. “The only way to get the planning and zoning commission time to review this without the risk of an application is to put a moratorium in place,” Swartzendruber said. It is with Greg for review and will need to be brought back at a later meeting.”Ĭommissioners requested that resolution be brought before them July 26 for possible passage. “We, as staff, have drafted something to that effect. “We do not have a resolution prepared today if you were wanting to implement a moratorium right this moment,” said Anthony Swartzendruber, county administrator. That led to the county commission discussing a moratorium on wind energy projects while planning and zoning creates regulations for those projects.Ĭounty staff has already drafted a resolution to create the moratorium, though it has not been reviewed by the commission. There could be a possibility they could apply at any point in time.” “There is very strong interest from NextEra. NextEra Energy has been evaluating Harvey County for a possible wind energy project for months. The county has been working on zoning and permitting of wind energy turbines in the county – something that is currently governed by the 2019 moratorium and conditional use permits.Īccording to Karen Rothe, planning and zoning director, the planning and zoning commission is about three months from presenting regulations to the commission after having an informational meeting on the issue last week.Īnd time could be fleeting. “We are so deep into this, and we are only three to four months out, do we need to extend our moratorium to include nonissue of a permit for any tower until everything is locked down?” Westfall asked.Ĭurrently resolution 2019-19 creates a moratorium for turbines being placed in a flood plain, and a limit that “No Renewable Energy Equipment shall be located closer than 2,000 feet from an active residential building.” During a discussion of county “Commercial Renewable Energy” regulations and special use permits, county commissioner Chip Westfall an unexpected suggestion: a total moratorium of wind energy permits for a limited time.
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