Wind and Solar Leasing in Taylor County, Iowa

The Black Maple Wind project: scale and timeline

In early August 2026, Apex Clean Energy submitted an application on behalf of Black Maple Wind, LLC to the Taylor County Board of Supervisors for a wind energy conversion permit. The application proposed up to 110 wind turbine locations, along with meteorological towers, an Aircraft Detection Lighting System tower, access roads, underground electric collection cables, transformers, and a substation, sited across northern Taylor County. By the time of filing, Apex had already secured roughly 36,500 acres of land under approximately 150 individual voluntary agreements with landowners -- meaning the project's footprint was built parcel by parcel through direct landowner negotiation rather than a single blanket lease. The Board of Supervisors held a public hearing on the application on August 27, 2026, and approved it in early September 2026, with reporting indicating the project is projected to generate more than $198 million in benefit to Taylor County over a 30-year period.

This is genuinely large relative to the county's size and prior wind development: 110 turbine locations is roughly three times the scale of the 34-turbine wind farm operating in nearby Union and Adams Counties, and 36,500 acres under agreement is a substantial share of the county's roughly 340,000 total acres. If you own or are considering land anywhere in northern Taylor County, it's worth checking specifically whether your parcel, or land near it, falls inside the project's footprint or one of its landowner agreements.

The 2020 ordinance that governs turbine siting

Taylor County adopted Ordinance #37, its wind turbine ordinance, in 2020, after supervisors concluded that leaving wind development entirely to private agreements between landowners and developers left the county without adequate checks and safeguards. The ordinance's core protection is a setback rule: each wind turbine and meteorological tower must be set back from the nearest residence, school, hospital, church, or public library by a distance of not less than 1.1 times the turbine's total height, or 1,500 feet, whichever is greater. Critically, an affected property owner can waive this setback by executing a written waiver or agreement -- which is the mechanism that typically allows a project to site turbines closer to a participating landowner's own residence than the default rule would otherwise permit, while still protecting non-participating neighbors at the full distance. If you own land near the Black Maple Wind footprint but did not sign a landowner agreement, this setback -- measured from your residence, not just your property line -- is the protection that applies to you by default.

Solar: a 2023 ordinance that reached hearings, adoption status unconfirmed

Separately from wind, Taylor County circulated a draft ordinance in 2023 to regulate the placement of utility-scale solar energy systems in unincorporated parts of the county, with public hearings noticed for May and June 2023. We could not confirm through this research pass whether that ordinance was ultimately adopted, what its final setback and siting standards were, or whether it carries a distinct ordinance number. If you're evaluating a parcel for a solar lease, or land near a proposed solar site, confirm the current status and text of any adopted solar ordinance directly with the Board of Supervisors or County Auditor rather than assuming the 2023 draft reflects current rules.

What this means if you own land in or near the project area

If you're a landowner who signed one of the roughly 150 voluntary agreements with Apex/Black Maple Wind, review your specific lease or easement terms directly -- payment structure, term length, decommissioning obligations, and any restrictions on your own future use of the land near a turbine site are all negotiated per-agreement rather than set by the county ordinance itself. If you're a non-participating neighbor, confirm that any turbine sited near your property meets the 1.1x-height-or-1,500-foot setback from your residence under Ordinance #37, and ask the county whether the approved permit includes any site-specific conditions beyond the ordinance's baseline. And if you're evaluating a new land purchase in northern Taylor County specifically because of the wind project -- whether you want to be near it for lease income potential, or want to avoid it for viewshed or other reasons -- ask the Board of Supervisors or County Auditor for the approved project's current site map and permit conditions before you buy, since a 110-turbine buildout of this scale will take time to construct and specific turbine locations can still shift within the approved footprint.