Supes Deny Final Appeal Against Lompoc Wind Farm

In an appeal of the Strauss Wind Energy Project, attorney Richard Adam argued strongly that procedures had not been followed in the county reviews. His speeches were tossed to the wind by four of the Board of Supervisors, who voted the appeal down. Adam’s brother, Supervisor Peter Adam, recused himself from the hearing. The project’s course through architectural and planning reviews were properly under the county’s general plan and encouragement of green energy development, the supervisors determined. 

The project puts 29 turbines of up to 500 feet in height on a ridgeline opposite the home of George and Cheryl Bedford, whom Adam was representing. In February, the Planning Commission had denied their appeal of the design review approval for the project, and they were now appealing that denial to the Board of Supervisors.

The wind energy in the hills southwest of Lompoc has endured a succession of roadblocks since the Planning Commission approved its conditional-use permit (CUP) in November, planner Kathy Pfeifer explained. The supervisors denied three appeals of the CUP. The project was then granted its design review by the county’s Architectural Board of Review, which was appealed by two parties; those appeals were denied by the Planning Commission. The Bedfords were the last remaining appellants.

The project received its final design review on Friday, said Pfeifer, which cannot be appealed.