The temporary ban on development applications is unlikely to deter companies more than stringent rules passed a week prior, but calls attention to disaster mitigation concerns raised by some constituents.
The all-Republican Washington County Board of Supervisors on Monday voted unanimously to enact an ordinance that effectively bans commercial wind turbines in the area.
Washington County is one reading away from enacting a functional ban on commercial wind energy. Proponents of the ordinance say it’ll help with wildlife conservation and prevent wasteful subsidies, while critics say it risks unsustainable carbon emissions and impedes property rights.
In a seemingly unending back-and-forth among community members, a public hearing Monday night saw several speakers voice their opposition to a Washington County ordinance that would effectively ban commercial wind energy development there. The county appears likely to move forward with the proposal.
After years of debate and countless false starts, supervisors have once more modified a proposed ordinance governing commercial wind turbines in the area, extending setback requirements and setting the date for yet another public hearing on the proposal.
The proposed ordinance would probably prevent wind energy development, but some locals still argue it doesn’t go far enough.
Public comments are welcome at the 7 p.m. meeting Nov. 18, but may not change much as the county faces déjà vu thanks to procedural errors when it passed a similar code in September.
Washington County Supervisors have completed the process to put a new ordinance on the books that heavily regulates wind power in the area, effectively preventing any large-scale development for the renewable energy source in the foreseeable future.
WASHINGTON — Washington County Supervisors completed the first of at least two readings for a long-discussed ordinance governing wind energy …
Ordinance would likely halt turbine development efforts
WASHINGTON — After months in limbo, a handful of policies written to govern wind turbines in Washington County will be …
Public opinion and local policymaker attitudes appear evermore unfavorable for potential developers of a wind energy project tentatively planned in Washington County.
County code change will likely wait on other documents, handful of other issues
WASHINGTON — An ordinance governing wind turbines in Washington County is back on the Board of Supervisors docket almost three …
While approval for the ordinance’s second reading was a quick and unanimous vote, the motion to waive an otherwise required third reading for the new code proved contentious, passing on a slim 3-2 tally.
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