(By Chris Dunker, Lincoln Journal Star) (Editor's Note: Reprinted because continuation was not published last week.)
AMinnesota company developing a 600-megawatt wind farm in northeast Nebraska is suing Knox County in federal court after the county board changed its zoning requirements to make the project economically unfeasible.
North Fork Wind, which has been planning a wind farm in Knox County since 2017, was joined by 12 landowners who had signed agreements to build turbines on their property in the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S.
District Court in Lincoln last Friday.
The lawsuit names the Knox County Board of Supervisors, the county planning commission and zoning administrator, as well as individuals affiliated with “Wind Watchers,” which pushed the county to adopt longer setback rules and require North Fork Wind to obtain a security bond.
Knox County Attorney John Thomas said Tuesday the county has not yet seen the lawsuit and had no comment.
According to the complaint, North Fork Wind had lease agreements and easements with landowners in Knox County covering more than 45,000 acres to build the wind farm, sinking nearly $12.2 million into the project, as well as $16.8 million to join the Southwest Power Pool, $1.5 million in lease and easement payments to landowners, and $1 million to comply with existing regulations.
The wind farm, which is affiliated with National Grid Renewables, was moving forward under a comprehensive plan adopted by Knox County officials in 2020 affirming support for the project, as well as in line with 2023 regulations adopted by the county board.
Included in those regulations were a 2,000-foot setback from nonparticipating dwellings and a plan to decommission turbines at the end of their lifespan.
Applicants for conditional-use permits were also required to provide several other pieces of information before the project could move forward — what North Fork Wind called “commercially reasonable zoning regulations.”
The energy developer was obtaining the necessary approvals to move the project forward when the winds shifted earlier this year.
In May, Knox County received a request from Michael Kumm of Wind Watchers, which opposes wind farm construction in Nebraska, to amend the 2023 zoning resolution, the lawsuit states.
Kumm sought to move the setback from non-participating homes from 2,000 feet to 10,560 feet — 2 miles — as well as for North Fork Wind to create an escrow account to cover the cost of decommissioning, and for insurance coverage of $5 million per tower.
The county planning commission welcomed public comment on the proposed changes in May, the complaint states, “even though the meeting notice and agenda did not include the text of the proposed changes.”
A month later, on June 11, the commission voted on each of the proposed amendments after allowing Kumm to present his case, despite not notifying affected landowners of the meeting in advance, the lawsuit said.
The planning commission adopted setbacks of 6,600 feet — roughly 1.25 miles — and required a surety bond be set at the discretion of the county board to pay for decommissioning and for North Fork Wind to carry liability insurance in an amount set by the board.
In July, the county board voted 5-1 in favor of the 1.25-mile setback, the insurance requirement and a requirement that North Fork Wind add Knox County to its insurance policy for the wind farm, even though the project would be built on privately owned property.
“The amendments were enacted with the express purpose of regulating North Fork Wind and the wind farm only,” the lawsuit states. “The wind farm is the only existing land use in Knox County, Nebraska, impacted by the amendments.”
The complaint states the amendments render any effort by North Fork Wind to obtain a conditional use permit “futile,” and the company anticipates such an effort “would result in a predetermined outcome of denial.”
North Fork Wind and the landowners who joined the suit asked the federal court to rule the zoning amendments unlawful, prohibit the county from taking further action to stop the project and award damages and compensation.
The lawsuit also accuses the county of violating the company’s and individuals’ rights to due process and equal protection, and it asks for a jury trial to declare the amendments void.
