May 12, 2007
Wisconsin
Wisconsin
A Wisconsin wind farm developer again will try to get approval for a contentious project to build seven wind turbines in the town of Mishicot.
Emerging Energies LLP of Hubertus is scheduled to present its plan at a town of Mishicot meeting beginning at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16 at the Mishicot High School Library, 660 Washington Street, Mishicot.
The meeting is open to the public and a question and answer session is scheduled.
Last month, Manitowoc County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Willis ruled in favor of local opponents of the project and vacated the conditional use permit Emerging Energies was granted last year.
Willis ruled that the county Board of Adjustment had failed to act “according to law” when the permit was approved because it did not apply the most recently amended version of the Manitowoc County Wind Energy Ordinance.
The amended ordinance was adopted by the county Board of Supervisors in April 2006 and became effective a month later. The ordinance requires a 1,000-foot setback for wind turbines from a neighbor’s property line, while allowing an easement for a lesser setback if an adjacent landowner agrees.
Emerging Energies previously filed an application for its seven-turbine development in April 2005.
Under the amended wind energy ordinance, Emerging Energies is required to present their project to the town of Mishicot. The town will then complete a written statement verifying that the meeting was held and indicate whether the town board approves the project.
Emerging Energies must include the town’s written statement in its project application to the county Board of Adjustment for review and a decision.
Edward Ritger, an attorney representing Emerging Energies said that the amended county ordinance’s setbacks make it mathematically impossible to fit a turbine on an average-sized farm or property. At least six of the seven proposed turbines locations will not comply with the amended ordinance, he said.
Emerging Energies is considering whether their application to the Board of Adjustment would include easements, requests for variances, or a request that the board disregard certain sections of the county ordinance, Ritger said.
Herald Times Reporter
11 May 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/05/12/wind-developer-to-apply-again/