Speakers split on wind energy development restrictions in Golden

GOLDEN, Ill. - Speakers were split Monday night over whether Golden should enact restrictions for wind energy development within a 1.5-mile radius surrounding the town.

About 100 people attended a public hearing at the Golden Community Building, which featured 22 speakers, some whom have expressed opinions during similar meetings in Clayton and before the Adams County Board.

Acciona Energy North America and Global Winds Harvest are planning a $300 million wind farm in the Golden, Clayton and Camp Point areas, but the plan has met opposition in recent months from some residents living in or near those communities.

Diane Haschemeyer of Golden said her family initially agreed to lease land within the 1.5-mile radius for a wind turbine, but they have since changed their mind after visiting a wind farm in Wisconsin.

"I will tell you right now, we did not hear one positive comment," said Haschemeyer, who believes the noise level of turbines was misrepresented to them when they made their initial decision. "That wind farm has been up and running for over three years."

Kay Lord of Golden, a wind energy supporter, said innovation and progress can create negative reactions. He believes residents need to look to the future and what the development could mean to the area before telling other landowners what to do with their property.

"Now, the village of Golden, I don't feel, should be telling landowners what the devil they can do with their land," he said. "It's theirs. They can use it as long as it doesn't require any big stinks."

Robin Walker of Golden submitted a petition with 51 signatures from residents who support restrictions within the 1.5-mile radius. Those signatures also were part of a petition previously signed by 176 Golden residents who oppose wind energy development near the town. Sam DeMoss of Clayton said he presented a petition containing 196 signatures opposing the plan to the Clayton Village Board of Trustees.

"I'm not trying [to] tell anyone what to do with their property," Walker said. "All I'm saying is that the law affords me a one-and-a-half mile buffer zone to protect the integrity of the community of which I live and the landscape that this community is."

Terry Smith of Clayton reminded those in attendance that hundreds of county residents lined up outside the Adams County Courthouse earlier this year to oppose a proposed comprehensive plan because they felt it would be the first step toward potential zoning. He said limiting wind energy development would be the same as zoning.

"Individual property rights are a corner stone of our country," he said. "I have no control over someone buying property near one of our barns where cattle are fed and coming after me for smells and noise they find offensive after they moved to the country from the city, even though this barn has feed cattle every year for 90 years."

Betty Smith of Golden said many believe residents should sacrifice for the greater good, because the wind energy project would create construction jobs, permanent jobs, income for landowners and much-needed tax revenue for local taxing bodies, notably cash-strapped school districts.

But she opposes that line of thinking.

"That is we should be willing to give up our peace, our quiet, our safety, our scenic views and even our property values," she said. "The investment of our homes and our property is no insignificant value."

Golden Village Trustee Rick Walker presented a map that showed that there could potentially be 28 wind turbines sited in the 1.5-mile radius.

"No one will say with any certainty that we will not have an issue in Golden or our citizens won't be impacted, but one thing we do know is that the farther away the wind turbines are from our community, the less of an impact they will be," Walker said.

The revisions to the Adams County wind ordinance approved in August extended the setback of wind turbines from the primary structures of non-participating landowners from 1,000 feet to 1,320 feet. No setback was made given for communities.

Officials are basing their right to regulate wind development within 1.5 miles of village limits on an informal opinion from the Illinois Attorney General's Office that said it did not need to have zoning to regulate wind energy development. It was originally thought that Golden would have to enact zoning laws similar to those in Clayton and Camp Point.

A temporary moratorium on wind energy development in Golden was approved earlier this month. Village trustees will review comments from Monday night's hearing at their Dec. 8 meeting, with a possible vote on permanent restrictions as soon as January.