The Madison County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to put a temporary moratorium in place on solar or wind farms.
The board voted 2-1 on the moratorium. The decision means no solar or wind farms can be proposed for nearly a year.
Discussion started in the summer after the county’s Board of Public Health recommended any future turbines be built 1.5 miles from any residence.
The Madison County Board of Public Health cited health concerns — specifically the subtle hum from the blades and flicker from the sun.
MidAmerican Energy and the Iowa Environmental Council said scientific evidence does not support the Board of Public Health’s claims.
“We have provided information the county, enough information we think, that establishes that some of these concerns are not warranted, or at least not based in peer-reviewed science,” said Geoff Greenwood, with MidAmerican Energy.
From here, the board of supervisors hopes to develop an ordinance that serves as a compromise among several proposals.
The moratorium will stay in place until October 1, 2020, and only applies to new applications. Wind and solar projects already approved will still go forward.
