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Pleasant Prairie plan commission backs battery storage rules, raises wetland and waterway setbacks
Summary
The Plan Commission initiated a zoning text amendment to allow battery energy storage systems in an M-4 power generation district and voted to increase wetland setbacks to 25 feet and navigable-waterway setbacks to 50 feet before forwarding the ordinance to the village board for review.
The Pleasant Prairie Plan Commission voted to initiate a zoning text amendment that would allow battery energy storage systems as a conditional use in a new M-4 power generation district and to strengthen setback requirements for sensitive areas.
Staff described the draft ordinance as establishing minimum lot and frontage sizes (a 10-acre minimum lot and 300-foot frontage), a 15-foot maximum equipment height, prohibiting facilities in a floodplain, and requiring landscaping, lighting, security fencing, on-site power and communications, and financial security for removal. The draft also requires a hazard mitigation analysis (HMA) and an emergency response plan (ERP) to be submitted with any conditional-use application.
Commissioners pressed staff on safety and siting. Several members questioned the draft’s initial 10-foot wetland setback and suggested increasing it; they also asked whether safety requirements in the ordinance would be adequate given potential hazards. Rob (village planning staff) said the HMA and ERP would be drafted to align with national standards and reviewed by local emergency management and engineers, and that some aspects of such projects could be subject to state permits that limit local authority.
After public comment raising health and safety questions, Commissioner John moved to increase the wetland setback to 25 feet and the setback from an ordinary high-water mark on a navigable waterway to 50 feet; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The commission forwarded the amended zoning text to the village board for further consideration and directed staff to prepare related changes to zoning-permit language to keep permit and code requirements consistent.
The commission did not adopt final construction or permitting standards tonight; rather, it set the policy framework and higher setbacks for review by the village board. Staff said any future permit application would include site-specific HMA and ERP documents and would be reviewed by village emergency-response personnel and engineers before approval.
Next steps: the amended zoning text will be considered by the village board, and staff will draft complementary building permit language to reflect the commission’s direction.
