BUCYRUS—Crawford County Commissioners met Thursday morning before a large audience and voted to restrict the placement of wind turbines in unincorporated areas of Crawford County.
The resolution was not a unanimous vote, with the lone dissenting Commissioner Doug Weisenauer saying he felt the measure equated to government overreach:
“The resolution might be legal but that doesn’t make it right. We took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the fourth amendment clearly gives property owners protection. This a decision that should be made by the voters,” Weisenauer said.
However, Commissioners were permitted to make the determination as a result of Ohio Senate Bill 52, which became law last July. The law changed Ohio’s law that governs siting requirements for industrial solar and wind projects.
County commissioners have the ability to prevent Ohio Power Siting Board certification of certain wind and solar facilities.
The vote came to a roar of applause. However, this is not necessarily the end of the issue. Proponents of wind turbines can now file petitions forcing a vote on the issue, which could overturn the commissioners’ actions.
Those petitions, which must be filed within 30 days of Thursday’s vote, must be signed by at least 1,182 registered voters — that’s 8% of the 14,767 votes cast for gubernatorial candidates in the most recent elections.
Bucyrus resident Sandra Shields was happy with the outcome of the meeting:
“We are encouraged by the actions taken today by the Crawford County commissioners, Tim Ley and Larry Schmidt, in signing the resolution to designate Crawford County a restricted area for the proposed Honey Creek Wind project and future proposed industrial wind energy projects. Although this high hurdle has been cleared, please continue to support the cause by keeping your yard signs out until the “race” is over!” Shields said.
Crawford County Now will continue to cover this developing story.
