Des Moines County hosts detailed work session on draft wind, solar and battery siting ordinance

Des Moines County supervisors spent the bulk of a work session reviewing red-line changes to a proposed wind, solar and battery siting ordinance, with regional planning staff walking the board through edits to terminology, notice procedures and review timelines. Regional planner Zach said the draft clarifies that the administrator "shall provide" neighborhood notices and requires departments to submit comments within 30 days to ensure an informed public hearing process.

The session turned legal when supervisors and staff debated a two-step process that would give developers an early "consent to proceed" while reserving the board’s right to deny final approval. One supervisor asked officers to make the language clear that "granting consent to proceed shall not ensure final approval of a sighting permit," a phrase added to both preliminary and final-review sections to preserve the board’s leverage. Board members worried that preliminary approvals can create vested property rights if a court interprets them as regulatory commitments; planners argued the early review provides the county meaningful input before developers invest heavily. The board agreed to keep the preliminary review but add explicit language cautioning that consent is not final approval.