SW Iowa Times

Page County Attorney Carl Sonksen told the county's Board of Supervisors earlier this week that they had the power to change ordinances as they saw fit when asked to weigh in on the county's wind turbine ordinance, according to KMA Land.

"The question was as to whether or not the board can or should re-address or maybe reconsider the existing ordinance, based upon there's a group of people who have issues with the setback requirements within that ordinance," Sonksen told the news media. "Of course, if there's enough members of the Board of Supervisors that want to re-address that, they certainly can. Any of the county's ordinances can be amended at any time."

Sonksen also said that it would be problematic if the county chose to retroactively modify the ordinance.

"Going forward, if they change the ordinance and change the setbacks, then people who would enter into contracts with the company building these would simply have different setbacks then," Sonksen said to the news media.

Currently, wind turbines must be 1,500 feet from a non-participating landowner's home. There is a group of citizens who want that changed from home to property line.