RANKIN — The village of Rankin could become the first municipality in Vermilion County to ban commercial wind turbines immediately outside its boundaries.

The village board voted 6-0 last Thursday to instruct the village attorney to draft a proposed ordinance that would restrict the construction of wind farms within 1.5 miles of Rankin’s corporate limits.

The board made plans to approve the ordinance at its March 1 meeting. Immediately prior to that meeting, the board will hold a public hearing at 5:45 p.m. to take public comments on the issue.

Trustee Lynn Magers suggested the ordinance. Magers said she is personally concerned about possible “health issues” associated with commercial wind turbines being built too close to homes.

Magers also said that allowing the 400-foot-tall towers to be built too close to Rankin could limit the village’s options for residential or commercial growth. Although she acknowledged development opportunities seem unlikely in Rankin, Magers said the village needs to keep its options open. She said she does not want to “land-lock” the village.

Under Vermilion County’s wind-farm regulations, turbines can be built as close as 1,200 feet from a home.

Rankin’s proposed ordinance, however, would give the village the authority to regulate wind turbines in an area of up to 1.5 miles of the village. The measure is allowed under a state law that gives towns that have their own zoning ordinances the option of  extending their zoning authority to regulate turbines on surrounding farmland.

So far, Paxton is the only town in the area to ban wind turbines around its boundaries, although several towns, including Roberts, have considered the option without taking action. Vermilion County Board Chairman Jim McMahon said he is not aware of any municipality in his county that has adopted regulations to limit wind-farm construction.

Rankin board members last week reviewed ordinances adopted by other Illinois towns, including Paxton and Pontiac. They plan to model the ordinance for Rankin using those others.

Magers urged the board to get the ordinance in place before wind-farm developers sign contracts with landowners near Rankin. Possible legal issues could arise if contracts are signed before the ordinance is adopted, she noted.

Vermilion County already has one wind farm under construction and several more proposed, McMahon said, noting, however, that he is not aware of any wind farms proposed close to Rankin. Meanwhile, Ford County’s first wind farm — the Pioneer Trail Wind Farm — was built last year just west of the Vermilion-Ford county border. One turbine in the Pioneer Trail Wind Farm is located less than 2 miles west of Rankin.

Vermilion County’s first wind farm — Invenergy’s proposed California Ridge Wind Farm — is being built on 23,327 acres of farmland north of the Champaign County town of Royal and south of Gifford and Potomac. The 214-megawatt wind farm is expected to feature 134 turbines, with 104 to be built in Vermilion County and the rest in Champaign County.

Meanwhile, International Power America Inc., an international company interested in building a 40-turbine wind farm west of Rossville, recently resubmitted its request to the Vermilion County Board for a building permit. About a year ago, International Power America, which merged with France-based GDF Suez, submitted its application to the county for a wind farm but pulled it from consideration just before the county’s structural safety committee made a decision on the permit.