GF County drops wind farm moratorium

The Grand Forks County Commission has lifted a moratorium on wind farm applications after tweaking a series of local siting requirements.

The revised document includes moving the setback for wind turbines from one-quarter to one-half mile.  The changes also define the tower height setback from property lines and right-of-ways.  Another provision involves the so-called shadow flicker – or the amount of time rotating wind blades can cast shadows on nearby dwellings.  The max time would be 30 hours per year – or an average of five minutes per day.

The revisions are designed to alleviate concerns shared by property owners and those in the wind farm industry.  The 90 day moratorium was scheduled to run out in early July.