Libertyville wind turbine ban continued

A moratorium on wind turbines in Libertyville has been continued for another six months.

The village board without comment this week agreed to extend a ban on building permits and certificates of compliance for the construction, installation and operation of turbines pending the results of a countywide model ordinance.

Wind power became an issue in Libertyville after neighbors objected to the noise and other aspects of the village's lone turbine, installed last spring at Aldridge Electric on Rockland Road.

Residents claimed the 120-foot turbine had disrupted their lives, and won concessions in court that limited the hours of operation.

The village board, which had been reconfigured as a result of the spring election, last August agreed to a six-month moratorium to allow for a review of village rules on the matter. Aldridge was exempt.

"It's a tough issue. Everybody wants to go green (but) I want to make sure they're in the right spot and are not detrimental to a neighborhood," Mayor Terry Weppler said.

In the interim, Libertyville has been among 20 communities, collaborating as the Wind Energy Task Force of Lake County, to develop a model ordinance regarding wind power.

That work is complete and the recommendations will be considered by the county's planning, building and zoning committee, as well as the Regional Plan Commission, before a public hearing and a decision by the Lake County Board.

"It's a complex process," said David Husemoller, senior planner for Lake County, who has been guiding the task force. "We want to make sure if we do encourage it, how do we do it in a way that discourages potential negative impacts."

Noise has been a particularly thorny aspect of an ordinance governing wind energy.

"We wanted to make sure we had the sound regulations done in a way to protect the neighbors," he said.

The county does not have a moratorium on wind turbines, although other communities, including Bannockburn, Lincolnshire and Wadsworth have enacted them.

Once the ordinance is enacted at the county level, it's expected individual communities will use it as a foundation to be tailored to their specific needs.