Franklin County takes a second look at wind farm ordinance draft

The Franklin County Board of Supervisors reviewed a second draft of a new ordinance that will regulate the development of future wind farms in the county during their regular meeting on Monday, March 14.

Having already made adjustments to the proposed ordinance the week prior, the supervisors found little to discuss about the second draft outside of minor corrections and clarifications. The one major topic for revision centered on a regulation concerning shadow flicker.

Under the first draft of the ordinance, wind farms must run computer simulations to ensure that residential buildings experience no more than 30 minutes of shadow flicker per day and no more than 10 hours per year. With concerns about the latter limit being too stringent, the board discussed what a more reasonable limit would be, noting that other ordinances in the state have limits that range from 10 to 40 hours per year, with 30 being put out as the industry standard.

Seeking a happy medium, the board settled on 25 hours per year and 30 minutes per day.

With the second round of revisions done, the county will sent the draft off to be written out as an ordinance. Looking to finish this process quickly, before area farmers become too busy with planting season, the Board of Supervisors hopes to start public hearings in early April, tentatively planning to hold the first public hearing for the ordinance as early as April 4 at the Franklin County Law Enforcement Center.