Commissioners to hold wind hearing Monday

Whitman County commissioners will conduct a hearing Monday to gather public comment on the county’s zoning ordinance for commercial wind farms.

Commissioners are considering loosening some of the restrictions in the ordinance that was approved Oct. 7 by the county planning commission after more than two years of work on the project.

“A lot of good ground has been plowed,” said Commissioner Michael Largent. “It’s not going to be as hard for us as it was for the planning commission.”

The planning commission’s ordinance states towers must be placed five times their height from neighboring buildings and 1.5 times their height from neighboring property lines.

If approved, the five times tower height setback would be the most restrictive in the state.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy said the planning commission’s five times setback was derived based on aesthetics, noise and safety concerns and may be an “overkill” in trying to protect the health, safety and welfare of the general public.

He sees a possibility that the code could be challenged by landowners and wind companies as being too restrictive.

The setback spacing would reduce the number of towers which could go on a potential site.

“In my opinion, (the five times height) is just slightly more likely than not to be upheld in court,” Tracy told commissioners Monday.

Commissioners discussed possible changes to the planning commission’s ordinance in a workshop session with Tracy, public works director Mark Storey and county planners Alan Thomson and Mariah Simpson.

Tracy’s emphasis on the term “just slightly” led to a discussion that lessening the setback requirement could be less burdensome on private property rights.

Storey stressed the ordinance needs to be a baseline minimum that can be increased by the county Board of Adjustment when permits for actual wind farms are applied for.

“We want that minimum to be as defensible in court as possible,” said Largent.

The only legal precedent for a wind farm setback in Washington is four times tower height, said Tracy.

That precedent was set by the state Supreme Court in an appeal of a Kittitas County decision to forbid placement of a wind farm off U.S. Highway 97 northwest of Ellensburg.

The high court ruled Gov. Chris Gregoire had the authority to approve a wind tower over the objections of local government. In approving the wind farm, the state siting committee set a four times tower height setback.

Tracy said studies have shown that three times tower height might be the minimum requirement for ensuring public safety.