Eastham turbine votes set
In recent years, wind turbine articles on Eastham town meeting warrants have been as routine as voting on the school budget. And voters have turned them down just as regularly.
This year, voters will likely have two wind turbine bylaws to consider, one covering municipal towers, and one covering residential towers. The proposals promise to be no less controversial than their predecessors.
The planning board holds a public hearing at the town hall tonight on the bylaws. The residential proposal would allow turbines up to 75 feet tall, measured to the topmost blade tip, except in industrial zones where up to 100 feet would be permitted. A special permit is required through the planning board, and each case would be handled individually through a site planning review process.
The required setback distance from any property line or road must equal the height of the structure to the blade tip, even with towers that are built to fold in half in extreme wind conditions.
Town Planner Sarah Raposa said that some have been critical of the maximum height requirements that fall far short of the 130 or more feet that many wind experts believe is needed to reach the best wind.
“We’re thinking of this as a compromise,” said Raposa. “We’re well aware that those who are pro-alternative energy look at this as being not an effective bylaw.”
But Raposa said the planning board, which was tasked by selectmen with writing these bylaws, felt that the compromise heights would be more likely to pass with voters. While some towns allow residential wind power proponents to build a taller tower if they can prove they need the height to make the turbine financially viable, the proposed Eastham bylaw has no such clause.
The proposed municipal bylaw sets a maximum height of 250 feet to blade tip and requires a setback that is one and one-half the height to the tip.
Pam Hesse didn’t think either bylaw would pass muster at town meeting. Along with her husband, Hesse helped lead opposition to a town proposal to build four 400-foot-tall turbines on town-owned property near the Hesse home in North Eastham.
“Would you really want something 75 feet tall next to your house?” Hesse asked. Hesse thought the town believed that municipal turbines would bring in much needed money but wasn’t thinking clearly about their impact on the town and homeowners.
Another public hearing is scheduled for Feb. 25 to discuss a change in zoning that would essentially allow larger municipal wind turbines to be built on land occupied by the landfill, transfer station and Department of Public Works.
By Doug Fraser
18 February 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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