At its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 20, the Carroll County Quorum Court approved the third and final reading of a proposed ordinance that would impose a moratorium on future industrial wind and solar energy projects in the county.
Justices of the peace voted 10-0 to approve the proposed ordinance, which specifically states that it will not apply to Scout Clean Energy’s Nimbus Project, currently under construction along County Road 905 south of Green Forest.
The Nimbus Project will include 30 wind turbines — four of which Scout says will be 591 feet tall and the other 26 that the company says will be 644 feet tall. The turbines will be placed on private property, the owners of which have signed lease agreements with Scout.
Opponents of the project say it will be harmful to wildlife, have adverse health effects and pose a potential safety risk for humans and potentially cause significant damage to county roads, along with disturbing the natural beauty of the area and having a negative effect on tourism. Supporters of the project say landowners should be free to do as they please on their own property.
The project has been a controversial subject at quorum court meetings for more than two years, with some JPs and County Judge David Writer contending that the county has no legal authority to intervene. Several proposals aimed at regulating the project have failed to gain approval from the quorum court.
The proposal approved at the May 20 meeting is sponsored by District 7 JP Kellie Matt and District 10 JP Jerry King. It stipulates that the moratorium would “remain in effect until the fifth anniversary of the date the last turbine in the Scout Clean Energy/Nimbus wind turbine facility currently under construction begins to produce electricity, or .. (t) he Quorum Court passes an ordinance lifting the moratorium.”
The proposed ordinance goes on to say that any such pre-existing facility will be required to provide the quorum court with energy production statistics for each wind turbine or solar array annually, in April.
The proposed ordinance states that any individual owner or company that violates the proposed ordinance will be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of up to $500 per day.
The quorum court rejected a similar ordinance in November 2023 that would have imposed a one-year moratorium on the construction of any industrial wind or solar energy facility and would have automatically renewed for successive six-month periods unless the quorum court voted not to continue it. It would have prohibited new construction as well as the continuation of any construction already started.
The next regular meeting of the Carroll County Quorum Court is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 17, in the courtroom of the Eastern District Courthouse in Berryville.
