HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Commission failed to get the supermajority for a wind farm project to proceed. Commissioners did vote 2-1 for the conditional use permit for the proposed NextEra Energy wind farm. But because of the protest petitions, commissioners needed a supermajority for the project. The company will not be granted the permit.

The commission agreed Tuesday that 46% of the petitions received were more than the 20% threshold required to force a unanimous vote on the permit.

Both Commission Chair Bob Bush and Commissioner Ron Sellers voted in favor of the project with Bush calling it the biggest project for Reno County since Siemens announced it wanted to build in Hutchinson. However, Ron Hirst voted against it saying he didn’t feel it fit with the Reno County Comprehensive Plan. He also noted that he’s not against wind energy, but didn’t like the location in the southeast part of Reno County.

The company wants to build as many as 83 wind turbines in that area but needed the conditional use permit for zoned areas of the county.

With the vote, it will now be up to the company to decide what its next move will be. The company could file an appeal through Reno County District Court.