Letter: State shouldn’t determine setbacks
The Columbus Dispatch | August 10, 2017 | www.dispatch.com
The Columbus Dispatch | August 10, 2017 | www.dispatch.com
Recently state Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, joined Sen. Cliff Hite, R-Findlay, in his all-out assault on the quality of life and property rights of rural residents in Ohio by agreeing to sponsor shorter setbacks for wind turbines in Ohio. His proposal would amend how close a wind turbine can be to adjacent property that is not part of a wind farm.
Apparently 1,125 feet to a person’s property line is too restrictive, according to the wind industry. The senators want that to be measured to our homes. When is anything sited to a person’s home in an agriculturally zoned area?
Why should the setback be shorter than turbine manufacturers’ recommended safety setback of 1,300 feet? They recommend their own technicians not be within 1,300 feet of an operating turbine, but it’s all right for Ohio’s rural residents to be well within that when it is measured to our homes.
Do the senators support the purchasing mandates in Ohio’s current renewable portfolio standard or will they vote yes on House Bill 114, giving power back to the consumers of Ohio? That bill would make optional the benchmarks for spending on renewable-energy projects by electricity utilities.
The reduction in setbacks that would affect my family should not be determined in Columbus; it should be determined locally, township by township. It’s not very conservative to support this kind of overreach on Ohio’s rural communities, especially since neither senator lives where this could affect their own quality of life.
It’s easy to hide behind the blanket of living in a city, and inflict something upon Ohio’s rural communities with big government policies.
Jeremy Kitson
Ohio City
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2017/08/10/letter-state-shouldnt-determine-setbacks/