PLATTSBURG (AP) - Several wind power companies have sued the Clinton County Commission and the Clinton County Planning and Zoning Commission for barring them from building wind turbines as part of a larger project.
Osborn Wind Energy, Osborn Wind II, Boulevard Associates and Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources are seeking unspecified damages.
The zoning board and commission voted in September to adopt a recommendation to ban construction of certain wind turbines in the county.
Osborn and Osborn II are involved in creating a wind energy network in the county, with Boulevard working to obtain lease agreements with property owners for wind turbine construction.
NextEra said it received a special use permit six years ago to develop the project. That agreement has since been terminated by the zoning panel.
The lawsuit stated that zoning officials and county commissioners "exhibited bias and prejudice against wind energy projects and plaintiffs' efforts to develop a wind energy project, and colluded with individuals that opposed wind energy projects."
Some residents have been opposing turbine construction on the grounds of negative impacts to the environment and property values.
"Most people here are not opposed to alternative energy, but we have done our part," DeKalb County resident Kyle Carroll said. "It's time for the wind developers to go someplace else."
NextEra is continuing to build a 97-turbine wind farm near Osborn, which is expected to finish by late November.
A message seeking comment from the county commission was left by the Associated Press.