The Board held a special meeting to prepare yet another version of its proposed amendments to the structure height section of the zoning ordinance. What was approved does not differ materially from the previous version, which was withdrawn on 27 January. It still removes all of the permitted tall structures and requires a conditional use permit for anything over the general height limit, with no upper limit. This will now go to the Planning Commission at their 24 Feb meeting. They will then schedule a public hearing, probably on 24 March. Here is the exact wording of the amendment in a WordPad document as provided by the supervisors. It should open on any Windows computer. I hope someone will tell me whether this works on a Mac or not.
The Board held its regular monthly meeting but there were no wind items on the agenda. There was a lengthy presentation on the county’s budget process and financial condition. This is relevant to the wind issue because the presumed need for new tax revenue is the main driving force for approval of wind projects. This presentation is covered by articles in The Recorder this week, as well as the complete, verbatim report on page 22. It is anticipated that a public forum with the county’s auditors to further explain the finances will take place later this spring.
Highland County Administrator’s Report is the main document prepared by Roberta Lambert and presented at the 1 March Supervisors meeting. [97 Kb, pdf] The three exhibits mentioned in this report are: Exhibit 1 Exhibit 2 Exhibit 4 (There is no Exhibit 3.) Exhibit 1 is a pdf file. Exhibits 2 and 4 are Excel spreadsheets that should also open in Quattro Pro and other programs.
The Board held a continued meeting this evening. Nothing about wind or related issues was on the agenda and the subject was not mentioned. Supervisor Rexrode was absent due to illness.
John R. Sweet, Mustoe, VA