After a two-hour public hearing with a standing-room-only crowd, the Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors on Monday (12.23) approved an amendment to a County ordinance that bans future large-scale industrial-grade development of wind turbines, solar energy or battery storage facilities in the rural portions of the county.
The amendment resulted from numerous public meetings earlier this year by the Planning & Zoning Commission, which submitted a 100-page report recommending there not be future large-scale developments in the unincorporated areas of the county. It does not ban personal or on-site use for things such as solar panels on an individual home.
A County moratorium has been in place since last year after several landowners near Burchinal were approached by Ranger Power in 2019 for a proposed solar farm that would have covered 3600 acres.
Supervisor Chris Watts says while he believes in renewable energy, the ban is the right thing to do. Supervisor Lori Meacham Ginapp says she sides with those who spoke up during the public meetings held earlier in the year that supported a ban.
Bob Klocke is a former board member of the North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Corporation. He says the ban hurts economic development opportunities in the county.
Don Hofstrand, of the Cerro Gordo County Clean Energy District that promotes renewable energy, says a land owner’s property rights are taken away with the ban.
Supervisors approved the first reading of the ordinance, waived the second reading and then passed the ordinance on its final reading; with the quick action taken with a moratorium on wind and solar developmen slated to end on December 31st. Passage of the third and final reading means the changes will take effect immediately.
Meanwhile, Floyd County Supervisors are also considering amending the County’s ordinance for similar developments. In November, Supervisors suspended the third reading of the amended ordinance after one of the wind companies threatened a possible lawsuit if it were to pass.
Supervisors put a deadline of December 13th to take up the matter again, but recently approved extending the issue to no later than March 3, 2025, while a Wind Energy Workshop group continues to work out compromises to the ordinance.
