Cerro Gordo supervisors approve ban on industrial-scale wind, solar, battery developments in rural portions of county

MASON CITY — After a two-hour long public hearing with a standing-room-only crowd, the Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors early this afternoon approved an amendment to an ordinance that bans future large-scale industrial-grade development of wind turbines, solar energy or battery storage facilities in the rural portions of the county.

The amendment was the result of numerous public meetings being held earlier this year by the county’s Planning & Zoning Commission, with the commission submitting a 100-page report which ultimately recommended that there not be future large-scale developments in the unincorporated areas of the county. The amendment does not ban personal or on-site use for things such as solar panels on an individual home.

A moratorium has been in place since last year after a number of landowners north of Burchinal were approached by Ranger Power in 2019 about leasing acres for a proposed solar farm that would have covered 3600 acres. By comparison, that’s equal in size to the surface area of Clear Lake.

Supervisor Chris Watts says  while he believes in renewable energy, the ban is the right thing to do. “If anybody remembers me when I first ran, on my flyer, it said at the bottom that I believe, and in capital letters, responsible wind energy, because I do believe in renewables, I do believe in wind, I do believe in solar, but what’s happening right now here in Cerro Gordo County, I just don’t believe it is right.”

Watts showed the crowd an uncashed $500 check that he said had been mailed to him by Ranger Power as a campaign donation and then announced that he was giving it back.   “I want to return this check for $500 to Ranger Power. They sent it to me as a campaign contribution. I look at it as a bribe. I don’t accept bribes, and this is yours to pick up at the end of the day.”

Supervisor Lori Meacham Ginapp says she sides with those who spoke up during the public meetings held earlier in the year that supported a ban. “I’ve got to do what my constituents are wanting us to do.  We need to listen to the residents of Cerro Gordo County and we need to do what we were voted in to do.”

Bob Klocke is a former board member of the North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Corporation. He says banning such developments hurts economic development opportunities in the county.  “I think serious consideration to an outright ban needs to be taken into account. We need to step back from the cliff and take a look at this for economic development. It’s an all hands on deck to economic development. It’s tough to turn away the type of revenues that could be generated and turned over.”

John Caspers is a member of the Planning & Zoning Commission that voted against the recommendation. He says he has a number of issues with the report.  “Just some examples, it falsely claims that ag land is not traditionally used for industry or other uses. If you just look through our current ordinance, there’s dozens of non-ag uses for agricultural land — salvage yards, events centers, bed and breakfast, mobile home parks — and it goes on. Dozens of uses.”

Don Hofstrand of the Cerro Gordo County Clean Energy District organization that promotes renewable energy says a land owner’s property rights are taken away with the ban.   “I found the report by the P&Z committee to be very biased against wind and solar. I think that the biggest problem that I have with it is this ban is essentially the government telling what I can and cannot do with my farm land. This is quite an assault on a property owner’s rights to do that.”

The supervisors approved the first reading of the ordinance, waived the second reading and then passed the ordinance on its final reading, meaning it will take effect immediately. A moratorium on development was slated to end on December 31st.