Don’t ban large solar and wind facilities in Portage County, said about a dozen speakers at a March 26 public hearing the county commissioners hosted at the Portage County Emergency Management Agency headquarters.
About 60 people attended the hearing, and, among those who spoke, not one of them supported a draft zoning resolution that would restrict large and economically significant...
Read moreThe property owners should have their own say about wind turbines on THEIR OWNED PROPERTY. The individual townships should then update their zoning to regulate. BUT…Here we go again! It is already bad enough the high, and out of control, property taxes, but the commissioners, especially Commissioner Bennett, to be so brazen as to say they will vote on April 2. To me, whoever spoke and offered insight, regardless if they resided in any of those townships (I do not), the commissioners sat there with deaf ears.
People, we just keep renting our owned land that we’ve bought and paid for year after year at the hand of local, state and federal entities.
Remember their actions at elections when their terms are up.
I would like to clarify my comments as represented in the article:
I live in Franklin township, but I do not speak for all of Franklin township’s residents.
I personally feel that the overall benefits of larger scale solar and wind projects outweigh the costs of those projects. Especially when those projects are driven by and have the buy in of the residents where they are installed. Any technology can be used in extractive ways, solar and wind power are no exception. I understand and respect the concerns of residents who are worried that large companies will buy up or lease out prime land in Portage county to extract power and profits from our area.
My main concern is that the county moves forward with blanket bans driven by the fear of extractive big business, and in doing so restricts the abilities of municipalities to move forward with larger scale community owned/invested projects down the road.
I am asking for more creativity in the handling of these issues. We write the laws, we can make carve outs to allow for the types of projects we want. There is a difference between a 100 acre solar farm owned by a national conglomerate and a 100 acre solar farm owned and operated by the township. A ban does not distinguish between those two. Instead we need to be looking to craft development plans are tailored to our communities needs and serve us.
If we need time to do that the county should pass a moratorium. But that moratorium needs to have a defined time frame and that time needs to be used to work out a development plan and not just an excuse to kick the can down the road.
Wind and solar don’t have to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. No one can restrict access to the energy provided by the wind and the sun. There is no pollution danger from wind and solar farms. What is the objection? You can build one in my backyard.
Who stands to benefit from the ban on wind and solar?
Why do the commissioners want to protect the interests of the electric company rather than their own constituents who own the farm land?
Don’t all 3 commissioners belong to the party who claims to be for small government and personal freedom? Why do people keep voting for them?
I’m sure we’ll get an update through the paper in a couple days, but so far the commissioners have decided to not implement any bans, instead dealing with proposed projects on a case by case basis, according to this report.