Wind farm amendment put on hold

The Lycoming County Planning Commission postponed a decision Thursday on whether to recommend an amendment to the county zoning ordinance to significantly change where electricity generating wind turbines may be built.

The commission meets again in August.

Planning Commission staff had put together an amendment that, if approved by the county commissioners, would allow wind turbines in resource protection and agriculture districts by right and in countryside districts by special exception granted by the county zoning hearing board.

The ordinance now allows wind turbines in agriculture and countryside districts by right and resource protection districts by special exception.

Commission executive director Jerry S. Walls said the amendment is needed to clarify the existing ordinance. Walls said the Pennsylvania Municipal Planning Code requires zoning ordinances to provide for all types of land uses and in practical areas.

The amendment would be a "proactive" approach that would give the county more control over where wind energy facilities are built, he said.

The commission's decision came after about 90 minutes of comments, mostly from people opposed to the amendment, and a 20-minute executive session called to discuss legal issues.

Arthur Plaxton of Jackson Township told the commission that the tourism industry, particularly ecotourism, brings $240 million into the county every year. Depleting natural resources that attract tourists by as little as 10 percent could result in a loss of income that could not be recouped by the benefits of wind energy, he said.

Plaxton said he does not believe the county legally had to provide for wind energy, though Walls disagreed.

Frank Piccolella of Jackson Township said the county already has an ordinance in place that sufficiently addresses wind energy facilities. Piccolella added that nothing has changed the definitions of a resource protection zone that would allow the current ordinance to be changed to allow wind turbines there.

"The definition hasn't changed," he said. "How can we amend the ordinance in such a drastic manner?"

County resident Gene Koonz cited a decision by the zoning hearing board to deny a special exception to build a wind farm in northern Lycoming County by Vermont-based Laurel Hill Wind Energy Co. and a subsequent decision by county judge Nancy Butts upholding the decision.

"What part of ‘no' don't you understand?" Koonz asked the commission.

Many of those who spoke asked the commission to consider how the amendment would adversely affect the county's greatest resource - its pristine woodland.

One man, who identified himself as a Tioga County resident, said it was "mind boggling" that the commission would consider opening the door to wind energy development in natural areas.

Robert Myers, a Hughesville resident who owns about 700 acres on which the wind farm was proposed, said he should be able to do what he wants with his land.

Myers asked the board to consider approving the recommendation.

Myers' wife Brenda said "the same dozen people" have opposed wind energy, but there is a "silent majority" of people in the county who support it.

Myers later said he was not discouraged by the delay in approval. He said he already has gone through three years of waiting for the Laurel Hill project to be approved.

McIntyre Township supervisor Al Boyer, who supports the Laurel Hill project, said it's most important that the commission devise the best possible amendment.

"What's another month?" Boyer said.

Commission chairman W. E. Toner Hollick said the decision on whether to approve recommending the amendment was one of the most difficult with which he had ever been faced.

For the time being, at least, he doesn't have to.