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LYONS — The town and the village both plan to pursue zoning laws to regulate where and how wind farms and windmills could operate.
LYONS — The town and the village both plan to pursue zoning laws to regulate where and how wind farms and windmills could operate.
Terry VanStean, who serves on the Joint Planning Board and is also part of a local group promoting wind power and alternative energy, attended last night’s Town Board meeting and obtained permission to begin drafting the law. The Village Board had given permission at its last meeting.
The town and the village would have to adopt separate laws, but VanStean said the planning board would try to make them compatible with each other.
The Village Board and the Town Board would each have to approve their respective laws, and both laws would be subject to public hearings.
VanStean said zoning regulations would help ensure that the local governments could control any wind power development.
“I don’t want to stop it, and I don’t want to hurt …
Terry VanStean, who serves on the Joint Planning Board and is also part of a local group promoting wind power and alternative energy, attended last night’s Town Board meeting and obtained permission to begin drafting the law. The Village Board had given permission at its last meeting.
The town and the village would have to adopt separate laws, but VanStean said the planning board would try to make them compatible with each other.
The Village Board and the Town Board would each have to approve their respective laws, and both laws would be subject to public hearings.
VanStean said zoning regulations would help ensure that the local governments could control any wind power development.
“I don’t want to stop it, and I don’t want to hurt our people, either,” said Councilman Earl Buchanan.
VanStean and other local wind power proponents believe wind power could lower energy costs or tax bills for area residents.
“We’re just looking at what we might be able to do as a community down the road somewhere,” he said.
No local opponents have come forward, but residents in other communities have argued that wind farms are noisy eyesores and are not cost-effective.
The Town Board discussed a zoning law outline written by Tom Sawtelle, who serves as the town’s code enforcement officer and was on the planning board before his election to the Village Board in November.
The law he outlined would limit wind power to areas zoned for residential-agricultural and industrial use and require special permits for the construction of windmills and wind farms.