Section 128.32. Political subdivision review of a wind energy system.

 

(1)   Approval by political subdivision. Except as provided in s. PSC 128.02 (1) , a political subdivision may require an owner to obtain approval from the political subdivision before constructing any of the following:

(a) A wind energy system.

(b) An expansion of an existing or previously-approved wind energy system.

(2)   Standard for approval.

(a) A political subdivision may not unreasonably deny an application for a wind energy system or impose unreasonable conditions .

(b) For a political subdivision that does not have in effect an ordinance as described in s. PSC 128.03 and s. 66.0401 (4) (g) , Stats., an application submitted under s. PSC 128.30 (1) shall be considered automatically approved if any of the following occur:

1. The political subdivision does not enact an ordinance before the first day of the 4th month after the political subdivision receives the application.

2. The political subdivision notifies the applicant in writing that it does not intend to enact an ordinance, as described in s. 66.0401 (4) (a) 2. , Stats.

(3)   Written decision.

(a) A political subdivision shall issue a written decision to grant or deny an application for a wind energy system. The written decision shall include findings of fact supported by evidence in the record. If an application is denied, the decision shall specify the reason for the denial. A political subdivision may make its approval subject to the conditions in s. PSC 128.33 .

(b)

1. A political subdivision shall provide its written decision to the owner and to the commission. If a political subdivision approves an application for a wind energy system, the political subdivision shall provide the owner with a duplicate original of the decision.

2. The owner shall record the duplicate original of a decision approving an application with the register of deeds for the county in which the wind energy system is located.

(4)   Effect of ownership change on approval. Approval by a political subdivision of a wind energy system remains in effect if there is a change in the owner of the wind energy system. A political subdivision may require an owner to provide timely notice of any change in the owner of the wind energy system.

(5)   Fees.

(a) A political subdivision may charge an owner a reasonable application fee or require an owner to reimburse the political subdivision for reasonable expenses relating to the review and processing of an application for a wind energy system.

(b) A political subdivision's fee or reimbursement requirement under par. (a) shall be based on the actual and necessary cost of the review of the wind energy system application, and may include the cost of services necessary to review an application that are provided by outside engineers, attorneys, planners, environmental specialists, and other consultants or experts. The political subdivision may by ordinance set standardized application fees based on the size and complexity of a proposed wind energy system.

(c) A political subdivision may require an owner of a wind energy system to submit up to 50 percent of the total estimated amount of the fee or reimbursement for the wind energy system application under par. (a) before issuing a written decision under sub. (3) (a) , if the political subdivision gives written notice to the owner of its intent to do so within 10 days of the date the application is deemed complete and the notice contains an estimate of the amount of the fee and the relevant reimbursement requirements.

(d) A political subdivision may not charge an owner an annual fee or other recurring fees to operate or maintain a wind energy system.

CR 10-057 : cr. Register February 2011 No. 662 , eff. 3-1-11.

Note

See also s. 66.0628 (2) , Stats., which requires any fee imposed by a political subdivision to bear a reasonable relationship to the service for which the fee is imposed. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1