Wind Energy

[Andrew_Lindsey]

Could everyone do me a favor and attempt to locate your local Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS) ordinance/code? I have the pleasure of being a political appointee for my local community, and one of my responsibilities is to review zoning codes.. we will begin reviewing our WECS code and I want to be sure it is as liberal as possible.

I am not very clued-in to the Wind Energy world, so I am turning to y'all as my Democratically-inclined experts!

Thanks ahead of time!

[tech3149]

1. Check these out

http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/energy/lib/energy/docs/wind_model_ordinance_draft_(12-8-06).doc

http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lititz/cwp/view.asp?A=725&Q=545226

http://www.pennfuture.org/UserFiles/ModelWindOrdinance_Final3_21_06_.pdf

[Andrew_Lindsey]

5. Thank you.

I'd read through the model wind ordinance and it almost matches our proposed ordinance, I was looking more for anyone with local experience on the issue. I appreciate your help nonetheless!

[izquierdista]

2. Wind? Zoning? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha

It has been my understanding that these two go together like tapioca and bowling balls. Zoning is for planning urban areas, and the more dense the population, the more intricate and varied the checkerboard of zoning. Wind turbines are sited in places where there is a lot of wind, which by some odd reason is where people don't want to live, or if they do, it is the low rent district away from the more desirable location out of the wind.

I would say that 99.9% of wind turbines currently installed are on some piece of agriculturally zoned land and restrictions are minimal. If you have a more specific question, I'll be glad to lend my expertise.

[IA_Seth]

3. n/t

I will instead bite my tongue

[Andrew_Lindsey]

4. A little background...

I live in a small midwestern suburb, pop 29,000, which borders a regional city of about 180,000.. so we aren't huge but we aren't exactly country either. There are subdivisions locally that include wind turbines within the communities, but since a moratorium on additional WECS expires Jan-1, the city is preparing a local ordinance to regulate them (there are already 10-15 interested parties)... the ordinance allows conditional use of non-commercial and residential usage with poles of up to 80 ft, with blade clearance of at least 30 ft above grade, etc....

What I was looking for was more specific existing ordinances from the communities my fellow Dems lived within, not condescending tripe about how zoning and wind energy don't mix. Perhaps our community is too forward looking, but we aren't against promoting local, smaller, WECS in city limits. We just need to create some guidelines for their use and are looking for input.

Thanks anyway.

[izquierdista]

7. Residential WECS

I'll still say that residential subdivisions and wind turbines don't mix. The proximity of a bunch of irregularly shaped buildings and trees for landscaping is going to reduce their efficiency greatly.

Now that I realize that you are talking about the .5-2KW units on a tall pole, I would suppose that the same aesthetics apply as for ham radio antennas i.e., short enough not to fall on your neighbor. And is it really forward looking to plan for a future where everyone has a turbine on an 80 ft. pole? That sounds worse than the days when everyone had an 8 to 12 ft. television antenna on their roof. Plus, you get that many "whisper" turbines going at once and it's going to be like the 17 year cicada every time the wind comes up.

With the efficiency of scale in wind turbines, it would be a better use of your efforts to develop a community owned wind installation on a favorable location nearby and enjoy your suburban quality of life sans WECS.

[Kolesar]

6. An Ohioan lived in a municipality and had to get his neighbors to approve a zoning variance

Enough neighbors said "no", so he was not able to put it up. The judgement was based on whether it would make the neighborhood/properties "less attractive".

So, three years ago there was no wind-specific ordinance, it just "fell back" to zoning. So, I don't have the law, but I have an anecdote.