Wind and Solar Leasing in Shiawassee County: The 2025 Zoning Amendment

The county's own renewable-energy zoning district, and the specific numbers

Shiawassee County's Planning Commission unanimously approved zoning ordinance amendments creating a dedicated zoning district specifically for utility-scale renewable energy development, and the county's Board of Commissioners gave final approval on a 5-1 vote. The amendment sets concrete, numeric standards: wind energy conversion systems (WECS) and solar energy systems (SES) may not exceed 40 decibels (dB(A)) as measured at the closest non-participating property line, commercial solar installations must maintain at least a 330-foot setback from a non-participating parcel's property line, and wind turbines are capped at 450 feet in height.

Those specific figures matter because they set the county's own bar above the vaguer, more general provisions many older Michigan township and county ordinances used before Public Act 233 of 2023 forced the issue. A 40 dB(A) noise limit, in particular, is stricter than the default state noise ceiling used elsewhere in Michigan's renewable-siting framework -- if you're negotiating a lease and the developer's boilerplate references a looser noise standard, that's worth flagging directly against this county's own adopted number.

Where this ordinance actually applies

The Shiawassee County Zoning Ordinance -- including this renewable-energy district and its numeric standards -- applies specifically to the eleven townships that don't administer their own separate zoning: Antrim, Bennington, Burns, Fairfield, Middlebury, New Haven, Perry, Rush, Sciota, Shiawassee, and Woodhull Townships. If a candidate parcel sits in a different Shiawassee County township, or in one of the county's incorporated cities or villages, that jurisdiction's own zoning -- not this county ordinance -- governs any wind or solar lease there, and its standards may be different.

How this fits into Michigan's statewide PA 233 fight

Public Act 233 of 2023 shifted primary siting authority for utility-scale wind, solar, and energy-storage projects above defined size thresholds to the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) -- unless a local government has its own "Compatible Renewable Energy Ordinance" (CREO) that is no more restrictive than the state's own baseline standards on things like setbacks, noise, and height. Shiawassee County's 2025 amendment is a direct response to that framework: by adopting its own numeric standards, the county is positioning itself to argue it should retain local permitting authority for qualifying projects rather than ceding that authority to the MPSC by default.

Whether Shiawassee County's specific 2025 ordinance has been formally recognized as a compliant CREO under PA 233 was not independently confirmed in this research pass -- that status can be legally contested, as it was in neighboring St. Clair County, where a stricter local ordinance was successfully challenged in court by DTE Electric. If you're evaluating a wind or solar lease in Shiawassee County, ask the county Planning Commission directly for the current, in-force ordinance text and its CREO status before relying on any older summary, including this one.