Resident asks Seward County commissioners to pause wind-project decisions

Neil Coffey, a Seward County resident, told commissioners at the Jan. 20 meeting that he and property owners near a proposed wind project want more time to revise the county’s rules governing conditional use permits. “We still feel like the rules and regulations are significantly less than what they should be to protect the citizens of Seward County,” Coffey said, and asked the commission to consider issuing a moratorium so citizens and the Planning and Zoning board can continue work on stronger protections.

Coffey said his group has collected model moratorium language and rules from other Kansas counties, including Harvey and Barton, and cited a six-month moratorium used by Harvey County as an example of a timeline the county might consider. He told the commission that adjacent property owners need an opportunity to weigh in and that the county’s current draft does not provide adequate protections for neighbors.

The request came during the public-comment period and does not bind the commission to any procedural change. Commissioners later scheduled a non-action work session with the Planning & Zoning Commission to discuss the moratorium question further; the work session was set for Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. to allow discussion before Planning & Zoning’s February meeting.

The commission did not vote on a moratorium at the meeting. Any formal moratorium, ordinance or resolution would require a future action by the commission, and the county’s planning staff and Planning & Zoning board will continue reviewing rules and hearing public input before the commission takes any formal vote.