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Brown County delays wind-energy ordinance second reading to clarify decommissioning, setbacks and noise rules
Summary
Brown County commissioners postponed the second reading of an amended wind energy ordinance after developers and staff sought clearer decommissioning financial-assurance language, a definition for 'unincorporated cities' used for setbacks, and a clarified noise-measurement standard (45 dBA). A revised draft will be posted for review before the next meeting.
Brown County commissioners on the morning of the Nov. 4 meeting agreed to postpone the second reading of an amendment to the county zoning code that would replace chapter 4.36 on wind energy systems.
The pause followed detailed discussion about three points developers and staff said need clearer language: how county decommissioning requirements interact with South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) jurisdiction, how the ordinance defines ‘‘unincorporated cities’’ for setback measurements, and whether the 45-decibel noise standard should be measured at property lines or at dwelling structures.
An unnamed staff presenter summarized the proposed decommissioning requirement in the draft: owners or operators must update the decommissioning plan in the 10th year of operation and every five years thereafter, and beginning with the tenth-year update the permittee would post a bond or other adequate security equal to 120% of the current estimated decommissioning and restoration costs. The draft includes an exemption for facilities for which the PUC requires financial assurance.
Developer Michael Eicompetti of 4 AM Energy said he appreciated the reading of the language but asked the commission to clarify threshold interactions with the PUC and to tighten definitions elsewhere. On noise rules, Eicompetti urged the county to follow industry practice of measuring noise at residences rather than at parcel boundaries. “If I had the golden pencil, which is a powerful pencil, I would probably remove the last sentence altogether and just have this be from the residences themselves,” he said, referring to a sentence that requires 45 dBA at setback distances.
County staff and several commissioners noted the zoning ordinance has consistently used property-line measurements for other rules and emphasized the desire for consistent language across sections. Commissioners and staff discussed mapping or formally defining unincorporated towns in the zoning ordinance or in a supplementary regulation so setbacks could be applied to the residential property lines that exist within those communities rather than to township boundaries.
Commissioner Gates moved to postpone the second reading so staff could ‘‘clean up’’ the language, add a reference to property lines where intended and post an updated draft (referred to as draft 6) on the county website for public review before the next meeting. The motion to postpone and post the revised draft carried by voice vote. Staff said the revised draft would be posted prior to the commission’s next meeting, allowing commissioners and members of the public time to review the clarified decommissioning, setback and noise provisions.
Next steps: the commission directed staff to revise the ordinance text to add the clarifying language agreed during discussion, post the updated draft for public review prior to the next meeting, and hold the postponed second reading after community review.
