Cerro Gordo supervisors to consider ban on large-scale wind, solar, battery developments

MASON CITY — The Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors before the end of the year will vote to create a new ordinance that would ban future large-scale industrial-grade development of wind turbines, solar energy or battery storage facilities in the county.

The supervisors last year voted for a moratorium on new development that was scheduled to expire at the end of this year while the county’s Planning & Zoning Commission studied the issue further, holding five public hearings earlier this year and drafting a 100-page report which recommends that there not be future large-scale developments.

Supervisor Casey Callanan says there’s been plenty of public support shown for the ban.  “I went to a lot of those meetings as well, and I think overwhelmingly the feedback we had during those meetings were on a large-scale wind and solar and battery, there’s some concern, if not over 90% of the folks there.”

Callanan says he’s concerned about the potential impacts to adjacent land owners with such new developments.  “I hate…I hate…I hate telling people what they can and can’t do with their property. That said, when it starts to impact adjacent property owners, I have concerns. Especially the large-scale solar and there seems to be debate as to what this is going to do to the drainage districts, right, and how it’s going to trap water and dump it on someone else’s property.”

Callanan says the ordinance would only restrict large-scale developments.   “I feel fine restricting it.  I’m not interested in restricting it on a residential level. If you want to have wind and solar on your county farm and this at that…I think we need to work on a definition of what’s commercial, what’s large-scale. I think we need to make sure that everything that’s in place can stay in place, we’re not asking people to decommission anything they have. I just think we need to get something on the books here.”

The supervisors will be presented a draft ordinance at their meeting next week, and if they approve of its language, hold a public hearing and have its first consideration at their December 23rd meeting.

You can see a copy of the Planning & Zoning Commission’s report and recommendation by clicking here