Turbine suit could end soon

A lawsuit filed a year and a half ago seeking approval for a third county wind farm could be over in six weeks if a judge who hears arguments July 19 dismisses the case.

Roger Buller at Stonebridge Investments LLC, filed suit Sept. 25, 2020, claiming county zoning director Sharon Omstead was wrong when she deemed Buller’s company did not have standing to install wind turbines in an area once planned for wind farm development by Rex Savage.

The Doyle 4 development was planned for south of US-50 near Florence. Savage eventually sold the project to Stonebridge and others. Stonebridge purchased rights to conditional use permits held by Windborne Energy in 2015.

In 2018, the county implemented a sunset clause that required companies to apply for building permits that year.

Buller seeks to have 2018 amendments to zoning regulations nullified and a ruling that he is owed more than $75,000 for damages.

Buller claims the county didn’t send Stonebridge written notice of the 2018 change, so it wasn’t aware of the change until February 2020. Stonebridge submitted four applications for building permit extensions that year. All were denied.