Controversial Fountain Wind project decision coming soon in Shasta Co. | David Benda | Redding Record Searchlight | Mar. 29, 2021 | www.redding.com
Decision time for a controversial wind-turbine project proposed in eastern Shasta County could come later this spring.
But where the public hearing before the Shasta County Planning Commission will be and how many people will be permitted to attend, if it’s an in-person meeting, has not been determined.
Planning commission meetings are still being held virtually, according to the agenda for March 11, the latest meeting held.
Other options for the Fountain Wind public hearing are an alternate location in Redding that would accommodate more people while still practicing social distancing, holding the meeting closer to the proposed project in the intermountain area, or a virtual meeting, county Resource Management Director Paul Hellman said.
“Those decisions have to be made by the chairman of the planning commission,” Hellman said, noting that Patrick Wallner is the current chair.
Hellman said the Fountain Wind project could come before the planning commission in May.
Here’s the proposal:
The project’s draft environment impact report has generated 110 comments, Shasta County Senior Planner Lio Salazar said Monday.
County planners are addressing the comments, including answering questions, and those will be included in the project’s final environmental impact report.
“If the hearing is held in May at the earliest, I would expect that the FEIR (final environment impact report) would be published within the next few weeks depending on when in May the hearing could be scheduled,” Salazar said in an email.
Neighbors opposing the project have for more than a year lobbied Shasta County supervisors to not approve the project during the board’s public comment period. Opponents believe the nearly 38,000 forested area that the turbines would be located within is in a high fire hazard zone. They also are worried about how the project would affect property values, wildlife, and that it would devastate tourism in eastern Shasta County.
ConnectGen has said it’s working with the landowner to minimize wildfire risk through prevention and early detection.
The project’s website says Fountain Wind will, among other things, generate $50 million in property tax revenue over 30 years, provide up to 12 full-time jobs, and provide more than 200 construction jobs during peak build out.
There is a good chance that whatever decision the planning commission makes, it will be appealed to the board of supervisors.
Oak Run resident Beth Messick, who founded Citizens in Opposition to the Fountain Wind Project, said interest in the project is high and more than 200 people could show up for the planning commission hearing if given the chance.
A public meeting for the project in January 2019 packed the Montgomery Creek Elementary School gym. That could not happen in today’s COVID-19 health guidelines that restrict large gatherings.
What Messick doesn’t want is a virtual meeting.
“No, because we won’t be able to see their faces (commissioners and county officials) and their reactions (to) make sure they are paying attention,” said Messick, who said her family’s ranch borders the proposed wind farm site.
Messick expects ConnectGen and opponents to make presentations with visual aids during the public hearing, and she thinks it would be difficult to follow those virtually.
While Messick isn’t opposed to driving to Redding for the public hearing, she knows of older residents in eastern Shasta County who don’t feel the same.
“They’d rather have it up here because they don’t want to have a two-hour drive (round trip) to address things,” she said.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2021/03/30/decision-on-controversial-wind-energy-project-in-shasta-county-could-come-soon/