Eligible voters to decide county Props 1 & 2

HURON COUNTY - Voters residing outside of cities and villages in 14 county-zoned townships today will vote on county Proposals 1 and 2, which ask voters to confirm the creation of two new wind districts.

Proposal 1 asks voters in the county's zoning jurisdiction to confirm an ordinance amendment county officials previously approved to create a wind overlay district in portions of Bloomfield, Rubicon and Sigel Townships, generally bounded by Kinde Road on the north, Iseler Road on the west, Port Hope Road on the east and M-142 (Sand Beach Road) on the south.

Proposal 2 asks voters in the county's zoning jurisdiction to confirm an ordinance amendment county officials previously approved to create a wind overlay district in portions of McKinley Township, generally bounded by Filion Road on the north, Caseville Road on the west, Gagetown Road on the east and Campbell Road on the south.

While the proposals seek to amend the ordinance in terms of a map amendment, they do not change any existing text and standards for wind energy in Huron County.

Huron County Building and Zoning Director Russ Lundberg said the proposals are for zoning map amendments that alter two areas of the county from a zoning classification of agriculture to a zoning classification of agriculture with a wind overlay district.

The two proposed overlay districts are only over land as specified in the two amendments. It's not county wide.

The Huron County Board of Commissioners approved the two amendments in July, but they now are up for a vote of residents in the county's zoning jurisdiction because a petition was filed to get the amendments on Tuesday's ballot.

The two proposals, if approved by the majority of eligible voters, would not automatically approve wind developments in Bloomfield, Sigel, Rubicon or McKinley townships, Lundberg said. That is because creating a wind district is just the first step in the lengthy process of creating a wind development, and additional approval would be needed in order for a development to be constructed.

Per the county's ordinance, if someone wants to create a wind farm development, they have to have the county create a wind district in the area they wish to develop. Heritage Sustainable Energy and DTE Energy previously asked the county for the two respective districts and the districts were approved by the county.

If a developer wants to create a wind farm elsewhere in the county's jurisdiction, it would have to follow the same process that DTE Energy and Heritage Sustainable Energy did in terms of getting the county to create an individual wind district, Lundberg said. The district wouldn't be up for a vote of the people, however, unless a resident in the county's zoning jurisdiction submitted a petition for a ballot referendum.

Per Michigan's zoning law, only those who are registered voters who do not live in a city or village in a township that is in the county's zoning jurisdiction may vote on the two county proposals, said Huron County Clerk Peggy Koehler.

The 14 townships that are under county zoning include Bingham, Bloomfield, Dwight, Fairhaven, Gore, Grant, Hume, Lincoln, McKinley, Rubicon, Sheridan, Sherman, Sigel and Winsor.

While some are under the impression only voters in Bloomfield, Sigel, Rubicon and McKinley townships will be able to vote on the proposals, that is not the case, Lundberg said. All voters within the county's zoning jurisdiction will be able to vote.

Cities and villages are not included in the county's zoning jurisdiction. Townships that are not under the county's zoning jurisdiction include Lake, Caseville, Paris, Verona, Brookfield, Sebewaing, Chandler, Colfax, Meade, Oliver, Huron, Sand Beach, Pte. Aux Barques and Port Austin. So if you live in these townships, or a city or village within the 14 townships under county zoning, you will not be able to vote on the wind ballot proposals.

Koehler said it was very confusing compiling the ballots, as some townships have two different ballots, one for village residents that does not have the two county proposals and another for township residents outside of villages that includes the two proposals. Ballots for city voters will not include the two county proposals.

The county clerk has held a special training session for election workers regarding how to handle two different ballots and how they should address concerns some voters may have if they learn they are not eligible to vote on the issues.

Regarding who is eligible to vote, Koehler said, it's "absolutely not" the call of election workers, as the process is dictated by state law, not by county or local governments.