November 29, 2011
Michigan

Palmyra wind ordinance targeted; Referendum effort underway

The Advance, www.blissfieldadvance.com 29 November 2011

PALMYRA – In Palmyra Township, the effort to overturn a recently passed wind energy ordinance is gaining momentum, according to resident Laura Van Camp, who on Nov. 8 filed for a petition to get a referendum on the February ballot. Van Camp, a member of the anti-wind energy Interstate Informed Citizens Coalition, says the ordinance is not sufficiently protective.

Van Camp said she especially takes issue with the minimum setbacks in the ordinance, which require wind turbines to be sited at least two times their height from the nearest property line.

“The people in Riga are being protected by four times the height,” said Van Camp. “We’re getting half that.”

Van Camp said she sees Riga Township’s regulations as a model for other townships. Wind energy developers have said the Riga ordinance is so restrictive that it makes construction in the township impossible. Van Camp says it simply provides the necessary protection for Riga residents.

In order to get a referendum on the ballot, Van Camp needs 110 certified signatures on her petition. With a Dec. 8 deadline, she says she and several others helping her are already near their goal.

Copyright 2011 River Raisin Publications, Inc. For James McClenathen’s complete story, please see the Nov. 30, 2011, edition of The Advance.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/11/29/palmyra-wind-ordinance-targeted-referendum-effort-underway/