A lot of hot air? Shawnee County quashes rumors while pondering wind and solar farm rules

Rumors and gossip can create anger, fear and division within a community, says Joni Thadani, Shawnee County's planning director.

The county's government is consequently trying to prevent that by working proactively in an orderly manner to make sure citizens receive factual information as it seeks to create rules regarding the potential establishment here of wind and solar farms, Thadani said.

The county's plans include having public hearings or town hall meetings, Thadani told those present at a Nov. 13 meeting of the Shawnee County Planning Commission.

"We want to ensure that everybody has the ability to participate in the process," she said.

Official: No wind farm companies have contacted Shawnee County

Contrary to recent rumors, Shawnee County has received no communications from wind farm companies and no requests for zoning changes that would enable a wind farm to operate here, county public information officer Amanda Monhollon told The Capital-Journal last week.

Thadani said the same thing at the Nov. 13 planning commission meeting held to discuss what rules the county might want to put in place regarding solar and wind farms.

Residents said some landowners in the Auburn area have signed leases that would enable their properties to be used by a company that operates wind farms.

County PIO says some landowners have signed leases

"There are leases out there," Monhollon confirmed for The Capital-Journal this past week, saying county officials became aware of that through word of mouth and a survey they conducted.

"We do not know who, how many, or even on what parcel(s) those leases are located," she said.

Landowners have the legal right to enter into a lease regarding their property, Monhollon stressed.

"However, having a lease on a property does not equate to the zoning approval a wind or solar farm needs to build and or operate a farm," she said.

Survey says residents are divided on renewable energy

Residents are divided about whether solar farms and/or wind farms should be allowed here, say results of a survey recently conducted by the Shawnee County Planning Commission.

No wind farms are present in Shawnee County. Two solar farms operate here, Crooked Post at 4306 S.W. Auburn Road and Kiro Solar at 7300 N.W. 35th.

Thadani said the county began looking at establishing rules for wind and solar farms here after local officials, while considering and approving permits for the two solar farms last year, heard concerns expressed about Shawnee County's lack of rules addressing wind and solar farms.

"At that time, the Planning Commissioners and Board of County Commissioners expressed frustration that they did not have more direction on items such as size, setbacks, decommissioning, payment in lieu of taxes and other rules and regulations that might be considered best practice in these types of zoning cases," Thadani said.

The Shawnee County Planning Commission in mid-September launched an online poll on Survey Monkey seeking residents' answers to 30 questions regarding forms of renewable energy.

Almost all the 894 people who responded lived in Shawnee County, owned property in Shawnee County, or both. Survey results were made public last week.

Respondents seemed slightly more amenable to allowing solar farms than to allowing tall wind turbines, which convert the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy.

When asked if they supported allowing wind farms in Shawnee County, results showed 31% of respondents strongly agreed, 13% agreed, 4% neither agreed nor disagreed, 6% disagreed and 46% strongly disagreed.

When asked if they supported allowing solar farms in Shawnee County, results showed 35% of respondents strongly agreed, 14% agreed, 7% neither agreed nor disagreed, 8% disagreed and 36% strongly disagreed.

'Keep that (stuff) in California'

Those who took the survey were encouraged to submit written comments.

"Keep that (stuff) in California," said one unidentified resident, clearly not a big fan of wind turbines..

Another disagreed, saying wind and solar farms would bring clean energy, jobs and economic growth to this area.

Thadani described the survey as being "one of the first steps for us to understand how to move forward with regulations regarding wind and solar farms in Shawnee County."

She added, "I appreciate everyone who took the survey and participated in that process."

What's next?

Former Kansas legislator Ginger Barr asked at the Nov. 13 planning commission meeting that the county "take things slow" and give the public time to learn about the issues involved with wind farms, then give the public a chance to provide input to the planning commission.

Thadani said the county plans as it move forward to educate residents about "what it is that we're doing" and to enable residents to share input with the county.

Discussion about potential wind and solar farm rules is expected to continue when the Shawnee County Planning Commission next meets at 6 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Shawnee County Annex, 1515 S.W. Saline, Thadani said.

The planning commission provides recommendations on planning and zoning matters to County Commissioners Bill Riphahn, Kevin Cook and Aaron Mays, who have final say on what the county does.

The planning commission meets on the second Monday of each month at the annex.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at [email protected] or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Shawnee County officials discuss rules for wind and solar farms