(Radio Iowa) – The potential for wind energy is now severely limited in Woodbury County. The board of supervisors voted Tuesday night to increase the setback distance for wind turbines from 12-hundred-50 feet to 25-hundred. The change will prevent MidAmerican Energy from building the 90-plus wind turbines proposed in its Siouxland Wind Farm Project. County supervisor Justin Wright voted against the measure, calling it unfair to the nearly 60 residents already signed on to the project. “There’s a minority of constituents in Woodbury County that are on the opposing side of the issue,” Wright says, “but we are still going to strip a right away from a smaller group of Woodbury County taxpayers.”

Many residents showed up to the public hearing to support the amended ordinance, citing safety concerns. The majority of the board sided with the almost 900 residents that signed a petition supporting the change. Supervisor Matthew Ung says he understood their concerns about the potential disruption the turbines could pose to the county.  Ung says, “Good, bad or indifferent, the nuisance issues with turbines are exacerbated by the population density in Woodbury County compared to other areas with industrial wind farms that are widespread.”

Representatives from MidAmerican energy opposed the measure, as the new ordinance shrinks the buildable acres in the county from 177 to just one-point-seven.

(reporting by Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)