Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
No decision from Planning Commission
DAVENPORT — The Lincoln County Planning Commission held further discussions about updating the county code with provisions for wind and solar development, but didn’t reach a final draft to present to the County Commissioners after a meeting Tuesday, May 28.
Figuring out appropriate setback distances and how those should impact participating and non-participating landowners is a major holdover for the Planning Commission. Member Margie Hall noted Monday that she didn’t think a decision should be made that day with so many setbacks to study.
That’s because Commission chair Sue Lani Madsen has compiled a spreadsheet containing various setback options, where those setbacks are used and what factors are considered in those setbacks.
The current county draft suggests a setback of 1.1 times the tip height of a 660-foot turbine from property lines and 1,650 feet or four times the tip height, whichever is greater, from an occupied residence. It also proposes a setback of tip height plus 100 feet from a county road and four times the tip height of 1,650 feet, whichever is greater, from an urban boundary.
Meanwhile, Triple Oak Power has suggested tip height plus 100-feet from a property line and occupied residence, according to the spreadsheet.
The Desert Claim Project in Kittitas County has 1.25 times the tip height setback from a property line, 2,500 feet from an occupied residence and 1.25 times the tip height from a road.
The BLM National NEPA Register and California Wind Energy Collaborative have suggested 1.5 times tip height in the last 20 years.
Vestas Health and Safety Instruction Manual suggested a 1,312-foot setback, while Columbia County Zoning has a 0.25-mile from property line setback and 1.5 times tip height from paved roads and urban growth boundaries.
The Health and Safety Instruction Manual suggests a 1,640-foot set back from personnel, fire or a runaway turbine, while Gerro Cordo County in Iowa has proposed a setback of the greatest of 1,600 feet or 3.75 times the tip height from property lines.
A Heath Canada Community Noise and Health Study proposed a 3,280-foot setback from an occupied residence.
The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) proposed a 2-mile setback from ferruginous hawks for the Horse Heaven Hills project south of the Tri-Cities.
EFSEC sent Gov. Jay Inslee’s office a recommendation to cut the Horse Heaven Hills project in half earlier this year, but Inslee said last week the council axed too many turbines from the plan, according to local news reports.
Madsen voiced a desire to further study ongoings with Horse Heaven Hills and a recent ruling from the Oregon Supreme Court on the Nolin Hills Wind Power Project in Umatilla County.
The Court ruled on April 18 that the Oregon Dept. of Energy’s Energy Facility Siting Council had the authority to approve a proposed energy facility, despite the facility plan not complying with a 2-mile setback from rural residences asserted by the Umatilla County Commissioners, according to ruling documents.
The Planning Commission next convenes at 10 a.m. Monday, June 10 at the Public Works Building off State Highway 25.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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