Open house: General development plan, no specifics about wind, solar energy

Those who attended an open house Thursday in North Platte to learn more about zoning regulations for wind and solar energy didn’t hear what they expected.

Nothing specific was said about zoning regulations.

Instead, the open house was about the county’s new comprehensive zoning plan, which is a general plan for development. A comprehensive plan is created before new zoning regulations are written.

Currently, there is a moratorium on renewable energy development in Lincoln County, pending revisions of outdated zoning regulations to better reflect the size and scale of such projects.

Regardless of the moratorium, a large wind energy project is the planning stages in the hills south of U.S. Highway 30 between Maxwell and Brady.

The field of 50-plus wind turbines are projected to be nearly 400 feet tall, with blade height 30% taller than that. Although the developer, RWE, has named it the Brady Island Project, the turbines would be located in the hills north of the Platte River, not on the island. That height would be taller than the state capital building in Lincoln, and nearly as tall as the exhaust stacks at the Gerald Gentleman power generating station near Sutherland.

Both the “comp plan” and updated zoning requirements should be ready for public hearings in September or October, Lincoln County Zoning Administrator Judy Clark told the Bulletin after the meeting. Clark said public hearings will be held by the Lincoln County planning commission as well as the Lincoln County board of commissioners.

Clark told the Bulletin that the new renewable energy zoning regulations might be discussed at an open house/public forum before the public hearings are held, but that is yet to be determined.

After the meeting, Bruns and other county commissioners listened to questions and concerns in the hallway from some of the 65 people who attended the afternoon session.

Comprehensive plan

On Thursday, Keith Marvin of Marvin Planning introduced and summarized the “comp plan,” which has been in the drafting phase for 18 months or more. He said it will be more than a month, or maybe two, before the plan is finalized.

Officially, the comp plan is the primary policy guide about the location, character, and type of growth and development that is anticipated over the next 20 years.

It describes the history, distinguishing characteristics, and vital statistics of the county.

The draft of the comp plan is Here.

Lincoln County is home to 34,532 residents and more than 27,000 jobs. Lincoln County and North Platte, the county seat, is a regional trade and jobs center, a focal point of the west central Nebraska economy. Lincoln County and its cities and villages — Brady, Hershey, Maxwell, North Platte, Sutherland, Wallace, and Wellfleet — are centered at the convergence of the North and South Platte Rivers with the Sandhills in the north of the county and the canyons in the south, the introduction of the plan says.

In interviews with residents, Marvin said people generally love how efficient local governments are at conducting their business for the greater good. Participants love having big city amenities with a small-town lifestyle. Residents of villages cited their local community as a reason for loving the county. Also, many love the diversity of recreational facilities, including the proximity to the sandhills and canyons across the county.

Participants also see the need to identify things to improve. They see infrastructure as an opportunity, but also as a weakness, the plan says. Public safety is a concern. The aging population of the county, averaging 42.2 years old, was labeled as a concern due to implications for the workforce. Also, affordable housing is an increasing concern.

The population of the county is projected to grow as the Sustainable Beef processing plant continues to open. Also, new businesses are expected to someday locate in the industrial rail park near Hershey, which is also known as the inland Port of the Plains.

That growth will increase the demand for housing and cohesive transportation, Marvin said. Sections on transportation and housing are parts of the 210-page comp plan. The plan also contains many other facets of the county, including soil types.

Aaron Beckman, the primary author of the housing analysis, said North Platte will likely need 3,500-4,200 additional housing units in the next 10 years. Of these, 1,500 are planned or under construction, he said, so another 2,000 or more will be needed based on projections for Sustainable Beef and the Port of the Plains.

Beckman emphasized the importance of affordable housing, which he defined as affordable for people who earn 20% less than the average income in the county.

There were a few questions from the audience. One person noted that some of statistics are already 3-5 years old. Marvin said the most recent U.S. Census data is from 2023. He said U.S. Census data always is released in December and the numbers are always from the previous year.

Marvin also noted that water and power supplies are major concerns, and both topics are critical issues statewide in Nebraska. He said discussions are underway about battery technology to store excess electricity, as well as compact, small-scale nuclear generators. He said nuclear generation is likely 5-10 years in the future. Federal regulations would need to be written.

Marvin said more comments about the plan are welcome, and he is working on an electronic comment form that can be filled out and submitted.

Regarding zoning changes, he said his firm is currently building basic updates to the zoning code.

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