Anti-Wind Activists Again Call for Turbine Ban in Ford County
Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 9:54AM 
A group of anti-wind forces in Ford County is again calling on the Ford County Board to enact wind turbine siting regulations so strict they would drive development from the county, says an article in the Champaign News Gazette:
The Ford County Board has been confronted with yet another request from a resident concerned about wind farms. And again, the board offered no discussion on whether it would consider adopting stricter regulations.
In the past year, the board has repeatedly been asked — but has refused — to discuss possible revisions to the county's ordinance regulating wind farms. Until Monday's meeting, the requests have been made mainly by Cindy and Ann Ihrke, two candidates for the board in the March 20 primary election who are both members of Energize Illinois, an organization opposed to the wind-energy industry.[...]
But on Monday night, the person requesting greater protections was Tom Harrison. His home southeast of Paxton is about a quarter-mile from one of the 94 wind turbines built last fall as part of the Pioneer Trail Wind Farm.
To protect people living near future wind farms in Ford County, Harrison suggested the board increase the county's existing 1,000-foot setback between wind turbines and "non-participating" landowners' homes. Harrison said he has heard that turbines need to be at least "a half-mile or a mile" from a home to be considered a comfortable distance away.
Citing research, the Ihrkes have also asked the board to consider amending the ordinance to require a greater setback.