Potential wind ordinance referendum doesn’t help residents
The Argus-Press | Jul 7, 2018 | www.argus-press.com
The Argus-Press | Jul 7, 2018 | www.argus-press.com
Recently, I’ve seen several people write in to say they think the wind issue should have a yes or no vote. If they had been to any of the meetings in the past 18 months, they would know this is not a yes or no vote on whether we want wind or not.
Wind is a designated land use in the state of Michigan, but each township or county can zone it to fit their needs.
This referendum, for which Hazelton Township resident Mike Rock has filed a letter of intent, is on the old ordinance vs. new ordinance.
It is a vote on whether you want the old ordinance that has wind turbines 1,100 feet from your doorstep vs. the new ordinance of 3 1/2 times the height from your property line (which every other zoning is always from property line and not your doorstep), whether you want 55 decibels of noise on your property out in the quiet countryside vs. 45 decibels max (the World Health Organization states 35 decibels should be the limit), whether you want shadow flicker on your property vs. none, whether you think we should have higher-than-600-foot monstrosities next to our homes vs. a limit of 450 feet.
The bottom line, it is a vote on your property rights vs. the wind companies trespassing on your land for free. Get educated and don’t sign the referendum if you value the use of all of your land. The citizens and both the county planning commission and the Shiawassee County Board of Commissioners worked very hard over the past 18 months to come up with the very fair wind energy ordinance for Shiawassee County. If you really cared about having input into the new ordinance, then maybe you should have been to the meetings.
Theresa Bandkau
Owosso Township
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/07/08/potential-wind-ordinance-referendum-doesnt-help-residents/