July 4, 2013
Illinois

Iroquois board to consider larger turbine setback

Will Brumleve | The News-Gazette | 07/03/2013 | www.news-gazette.com

WATSEKA – New wind turbines in Iroquois County might soon need to be located almost a full mile from homes on property not being leased to a wind farm operator.

The Iroquois County Board’s planning and zoning committee will meet at 9 a.m. Friday to vote on whether to recommend the full board approve a proposal next Tuesday to increase the wind-turbine setback.

The committee’s vice chairman, Marvin Stichnoth of rural Milford, said the proposal calls for the county’s wind ordinance to be changed so that the setback between turbines and non-participating primary structures – or homes located on property not being leased for a wind farm – be increased from 1,500 feet to a distance equivalent to 12 times the rotar diameter.

The change would mean a 1.7-megawatt GE turbine, with a rotar diameter of 328 feet, would be required to be at least 3,936 feet from a nonparticipating structure. The setback would be 4,608 feet for a 2.4-megawatt Nordex N117 turbine, which has a rotar diameter of 384 feet, and 4,800 feet for a 2.7-megawatt Alstom ECO122 turbine, which has a rotar diameter of 400 feet.

Another proposed change to the wind ordinance is that developers of wind farms would be required to prove shadow flicker will not affect non-participating landowners who live within one mile of a turbine. The developer would need to either prove shadow flicker will not affect a home or acquire a waiver from the affected person.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/07/04/iroquois-board-to-consider-larger-turbine-setback/