BLACKFOOT -- Bingham County Commission Chairman Cleone Jolley said a public hearing held at Shelley City Hall Thursday was aimed at disseminating information and collecting public input related to a proposed new ordinance regulating siting of wind turbines.

Jolley said the proposed ordinance also regulates future construction of wind farms in the county.

Currently, Bingham County has no ordinance pertaining to the new energy technology.

The proposed ordinance would require set-backs of one half-mile from any inhabited structure and 1. 5 miles from the property boundaries where a wind turbine is situated.

Jolley said a special use permit will still be required in agricultural and natural resource zones and light and heavy manufacturing areas.

Opponent Frank VanderSloot, CEO of Melaleuca, Inc., an Idaho-based nutritional, cosmetic, and personal care products company, has strongly opposed the siting of wind turbines in Wolverine Canyon. He recently submitted the results of a survey he conducted that he said indicates support for the wind projects drops when residents learn that the majority of power generated by the wind farms would go out of state.
VanderSloot and his holding company, Natural Guardian Limited Partnership, owns or leases about 1,500 acres in the Wolverine Canyon area. He is pursuing a designation of the land as a state park.

However, Jolley said the designation would only apply to land owned by VanderSloot and none of the wind farms have been proposed on VanderSloot property.

NLGP has already successfully challenged the planning and zoning application process for a wind farm proposed by Seattle-based Ridgeline Energy and approved by the Bingham County commission. District Judge Richard St. Clair ruled earlier this year that errors in the application, as well as some conflicts of interest, meant the energy company will have to go back to the Planning and Zoning Board to re-apply for a special use permit if it wants to build the 150-turbine wind farm.

Ridgeline has not re-filed its application for the project.

Jolley said NGLP withdrew its request for a judicial review of a smaller project northwest of Blackfoot, clearing the way for Utah-based Western Energy to build 60 wind turbines.

Bingham County Commissioners approved the project in June, Jolley said.
VanderSloot could not be reached for comment Thursday.