A proposed 37,000-acre wind farm project in eastern El Paso County moved one step closer to reality after the county’s planning commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a zoning ordinance during a nearly eight-hour meeting.

The $400 million project near Calhan now will go to the El Paso County Commission for a final vote, though the Gazette reports the wind farm would also need FAA approval because of its “proximity to local and military airports.”

If the project were completed, the newspaper says the 250-megawatt wind farm would generate electricity for Public Service of Colorado for the next 25 years. Plans for the project show the wind farm would have nearly 150 turbines that are more than 400 feet tall when the blades are extended upward. While some landowners said leasing property to the wind farm would give them another revenue stream, the project’s opponents worry the turbines would create visual and noise pollution.

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