October 11, 2017
Kansas
Kansas
Last Thursday District Court Judge William Mott ruled in favor of blocking the development of Argyle Creek Wind Farm, a 14,000 acre wind farm built in northern Sumner County.
Times-Sentinel Newspapers reported that the farm would have consisted of 60 to 65, 500 foot wind turbines. Invenergy LLC, had reached agreements to lease the land from various land owners in the area.
On December 7, of last year the Sumner County Planning Commission voted 5-3 to deny a zoning change and a conditional usage permit for the project. But later that month the Sumner County Board of Commissioners voted in favor of the zoning change and usage permit.
The plantiff’s attorney argued that the wording in the zoning regulation indicates that both the Planning and County Commissioners needed to approve the changes for it to be legal. But the county argued that the planning commission is only a recommending body with no legal authority.
Mott ruled for the plaintiff saying the county regulations clearly require a positive recommendation from both commission boards, before a permit can be issued. The judge also ruled because the Planning Commission had previously ruled on denying the request, the County Commission lacked jurisdiction to approve the request, making its resulting decision void.
The Argyle Creek Wind Farm would have involved an investment of approximately $525 million by Invenergy. The company had not yet made a decision on the next steps for the project.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2017/10/11/525-million-wind-farm-project-stopped/