Developer has not complied with rules
May 17, 2013 | www.saukvalley.com
If you or I desire to construct a building or structure on rural property in Lee County, a building permit application must be completed and submitted for zoning approval.
It requires our disclosure of selected building characteristics, building plans, a site plan, and a LESA soil evaluation and assessment report.
There are no exceptions or waivers. Every bit of information required must be submitted, or we won’t be permitted to build our proposed structure.
A developer who desires to construct wind turbines must comply with similar building permit application requirements set forth in Lee County Codes 10-15-15 and 11-5-2: Wind Energy Systems and LESA Standards. Those two codes also allow no exceptions or waivers to application requirements.
No. 8 of the nine wind turbine application requirements directs that the wind developer must provide “manufacturer’s specifications and installation instructions” for the model of turbine the developer proposes to build.
Mainstream Renewable Energy chose not to designate a turbine model design in its Green River Wind Farm application. Our zoning board adopted two findings of fact, validating that this critical omission had taken place and also that LESA scoring is required.
In fact, those were among 40 some findings of fact detailing the multiple concerns that drove our Zoning Board of Appeals’ majority decision to deny Mainstream’s special use petition to construct 46 to 53, 50-story-tall wind turbines.
Lee County voters owe our Zoning Board members expressions of deep appreciation for holding this wind developer to “no exceptions” building code standards, which have always applied to average citizens.
On Tuesday, it would also be most appropriate for our Lee County Board to express its appreciation to all five Zoning Board members for their hard work (9 months, 80-plus hours, 27 laborious public hearings) by voting to affirm their well-researched denial of this petition.
Jim Timble
Franklin Grove
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/05/18/developer-has-not-complied-with-rules/