This Tuesday, 5/2/2017, there will be a proposal on 2 wind turbine parks in Huron County, Michigan. One proposal is to allow or disallow DTE Energy to build 70 turbines spread across 4 townships: Lincoln, Sigel, Bloomfield, and Dwight. The other proposal is whether to allow NextEra Energy Resources, Huron Wind LLC to develop 60 wind turbines in Sherman, Sigel, Sand Beach, and Delaware townships.
Delaware Township is self-zoned and located in Sanilac County.
Another proposal is whether or not Lincoln Township should be self-zoned or not, which could prevent the development of wind turbines. Also, there is a proposal for Sand Beach voters to alter an ordinance to limit sound, which could also prevent the development of wind turbines.
The proposals are as follows:
Proposal 1, county-zoned municipalities (first proposal on the ballot):
Huron Wind LLC’s Overlay District in Sigel and Sherman townships
“Should the electors residing in the zoning jurisdiction of Huron County approve an amendment to the Huron County Zoning Ordinance which would add a wind energy overlay district classification to agricultural land located in portions of Sigel and Sherman townships, as specifically described in the ordinance, adopted at a meeting of the Huron County Board of Commissioners held on Dec. 13, 2016?”
Proposal 2, county-zoned municipalities: (second proposal on the ballot)
DTE’s Overlay District in Bloomfield, Dwight, Lincoln and Sigel townships
“Should the electors residing in the zoning jurisdiction of Huron County approve an amendment to the Huron County Zoning Ordinance which would add a wind energy overlay district classification to agricultural land located in portions of Bloomfield, Dwight, Lincoln and Sigel townships, as specifically described in the ordinance, adopted at a meeting of the Huron County Board of Commissioners held on Oct. 25, 2016?”
Lincoln Township proposal: (This will be found third from the top for Lincoln voters only)
“Shall Lincoln Township Ordinance No. 2016-01, an ordinance creating a planning commission with the powers and duties set forth in the Michigan Planning Enabling Act, MCL 125.3801 et seq., be approved?”
Sand Beach Proposal: (This will be the only proposal for Sand Beach voters)
Shall Sand Beach Township Ordinance No. 0822, which amends Article VII(A) of the Township Zoning Ordinance, entitled “Sand Beach Township Wind Energy Conversion Facility Overlay Zoning Ordinance” to revise Section 2 (definitions), Section 3.2 (principal of accessory use), Section 5.1 (site plan review), and Section 5.3 (application materials, including avian analysis, visual appearance, lighting and power lines; shadow flicker; setbacks; separation and security, and sound pressure level), be approved?
Sheesh, the language of these proposals are just too obtuse.
Anyways, wind power has become a big thing in Huron County lately. For a long time, there was a huge wind farm by Elkton and Caseville. Then a few years ago, a wind park rose up south of me, and recently, a wind farm popped up like mushrooms all around me, including one near my house (that my mother and I are receiving royalties from). Now, just from looking outside my house, there’s around 3-4 dozen turbines within my sight. They are large, and the red lights can make the nightscape look like an airport runway, but it is clean energy we can forever make use of.
I have seen a LOT of yard signs spring up in support of wind energy here, along with some yard signs against further development, especially in the yards of Drumpf supporters, which is not surprising. There are also yard signs of the small size which really should have gone back to the drawing board. At the top they say to vote in favor of the wind overlay districts, but at the bottom they say to vote against the Lincoln proposal. This is all fine and good, but with a sign of that small size, and a font that tiny, anyone heading down the road at ~55 mph is unlikely to be able to read both clauses on those signs. I had to get out of my car just to read the darned thing. If they want to push 2 messages, they really should spring for larger signs.
I have also received mail from 1 or 2 organizations in favor of wind energy here, including at least 2 letters stating to vote for the wind turbines to stick it to Drumpf. I don’t know how well that will go since so many people here voted in favor of him, but there were also a decent percentage (for an agricultural community) that voted for Hillary or someone else. Maybe it will work, what with him wanting to steal money from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to pay for his hateful and shitty wall. This is among the many other stupid, horrible, and hateful things he has done/wants to do, so it could very well work.
I have also noticed what appears to be a coal-fired power plant in a nearby town that looked deactivated, and my mother said it has supposedly been offline for years. Good. Clean energy is the future of electricity.
Source: www.michigansthumb.com/...