This Tuesday (Jan 26), at 7 p.m. in Cedar's fire hall, the public will weigh-in on a proposed wind ordinance for Centerville township.

As the Leelanau Enterprise reports, such an ordinance ("governing commercial wind operations") would be the first of its kind for Leelanau County:

“This began in February 2006 when Noble Energy came in and started talking about wind farms in the township,” Centerville commission chairman Tim Johnson said.

"A subcommittee of the commission began discussing how to best address the concerns of residents while allowing wind energy operations in the township.

"The 19-page ordinance would allow electrical-generating wind systems as a special use in the districts with a number of conditions. A site plan review would be required in the proposed regulations, which also require applicants to deposit $25,000 in escrow to reimburse the township for costs to hire consultants and experts to evaluate and verify the information provided by the applicant as well as legal costs incurred. If at any time this account drops below $15,000 an additional $10,000 will be required, according to the proposed ordinance.

"If recommended for approval, the proposed ordinance would be forwarded for review by the county Planning Commission and returned to the Township Board, which would ultimately have the final say on the ordinance."

To read the full story, click here.

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Photo: Bright Idea, #2, Sleeping Bear Point, Leelanau County, by jimflix.