Windy days in Story County will soon do more than just cause a headache for people with long hair.

The Story County Planning and Zoning Commission approved a conditional application submitted by Story Wind LLC to lay a field of approximately 100 turbines in Story County.

The proposal, made by Florida Power and Light Energy LLC, the umbrella company of Story Wind LLC, was approved unanimously by the board after it agreed to several conditions, including the exact locations of the turbines, legal obtaining of all permits, paid training for local rescue authorities on how to deal with turbine emergencies, dust control measures and the removal of all turbines and debris after contracts had expired.

The meeting, held at Christy Hall in Nevada and included a section for public comment, started at 5:30 p.m. and had an influx of residents that the commission was not expecting. However, as the meeting continued on for almost four hours, the hastily-erected chairs emptied quickly.

The proposed area of concentration by Story Wind LLC represented mainly agricultural interests with a few residential areas being affected.

FPL is the largest owner and operator of wind farms in North America and has been in negotiations with various farms in Story County since 2003, according to a presentation by Charlie Disset and Ryan Newstrom of the Story County Planning and Zoning Commission.

The development requirements that the company requires of itself include various environmental assessments, federal production tax credits and company approval for Hedged Plan Installation or the selling of power on the open market.

Additionally, all the landowners FPL has entered into contracts with will collectively receive about $600,000 a year in reimbursements for the use of their land.

In the slide show presented by Story Wind LLC, the company claimed that in order to improve visual aesthetics, the towers would be tubular and coated in a nonreflective white paint. They presented a construction schedule that extended from October 2007 to September 2008.

Among some of the concerns expressed by both the board and the public were whether the wind farm was going to generate too much noise and light pollution, and how it was going to affect property values in the area.

“This farm is going up half a mile from me and I’ve never been contacted,” said Paul Ogden, of Nevada.

He worried that his seven-acre property was going to suffer from a loss in value because of the large turbines going up in view of his home. He said he invested money in his property and he doubted he was going to find someone who wanted to look at the turbines once he decided to sell.