Province says no to backyard wind turbine

OTTAWA — The city’s first application to put up a small wind turbine in a residential area has been denied by the Ontario Municipal Board, and the Ottawa man behind the proposal says he is giving up the fight for his backyard power generator.

“It’s an opportunity lost to try something new,” said Graham Findlay. “I guess people ran away from that opportunity out of fear — fear of the unknown.”

Findlay, a 55-year-old commercial wind-farm developer who lives near Island Park Drive on the west side, appealed to the board to allow him to skirt the city’s zoning bylaws to erect a 10-metre-tall wind turbine in his backyard at 70 Iona St.

In a February hearing, the board heard that Findlay’s application is the first of its kind in Canada, and maybe North America, but perhaps the leading edge of an effort to promote more backyard power generation — something that would take some of the load off the provincial power grid and make individual households less vulnerable to shortages.

But the board dismissed Findlay’s appeal, upholding a decision made by the City of Ottawa’s committee of adjustment in October. The committee refused to exempt Findlay’s proposed turbine from a city rule that says the tower for the windmill would have to be placed so that if it fell over, it would all land on Findlay’s property.

He wanted to put his turbine, an “Energy Ball V100” — designed specifically for urban, residential areas — in the back corner of his backyard: 0.13 metres from his rear property line and 2.1 metres from his side property line.

The turbine can generate 500 watts of electricity during peak wind, according to its manufacturer. Findlay says it could supply about 10 per cent of his home’s energy needs.

In the board’s decision, Ontario Municipal Board vice-chair Jyoti Zuidema wrote that Findlay’s variance requests are “simply too large to be considered minor.”

The city’s zoning bylaws also state that wind turbines, regardless of height, should only be erected on property lots of at least 0.8 hectares.

It makes no mention of turbines meant for residential use.

In her decision, Zuidema wrote that “such extreme deviations … cannot be considered desirable from a planning and public interest perspective.”

Three of Findlay’s neighbours opposed his appeal at the board.

Ruth Kirk, John Taylor and John Earl objected to the sound and visual pollution they said the turbine would cause, and that it was an untested safety hazard that could fall onto their properties.

Pierre Mercier, a city planner they called to testify, said the bylaws are fully intended to rule out proposals such as Findlay’s, and granting an exemption would not be minor or desirable.

Findlay called two city planners, three engineers and two of his neighbours, who all spoke in support of his application.

Findlay said the OMB’s decision will stand as “a symbol of other people’s resentment and frustration.”

He said a week before the decision was released that

he had decided he wouldn’t erect the turbine because he didn’t want to cause more problems with his neighbours.

“It would be a lightning rod for their frustration, so I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to put it up, regardless of the outcome.”

Findlay refused to say how much the year-long ordeal has cost him, but said it is “miles beyond” the $10,000 he had spent before the OMB hearing.

He said he pushed his case all the way to the OMB level because he wanted to generate discussion about renewable energy and its relationship with cities and individuals.

“I think we mobilized a lot of thought, so I have to say to myself, ‘That’s an accomplishment.’ ”

It is unclear, however, what kind of impact the decision will have on any similar applications in the future.

Ontario’s Green Energy Act, passed May 14, makes no mention of residential wind turbines such as Findlay’s. But it does say that Planning Act instruments, including zoning bylaws, will no longer apply to renewable-energy installations.

“We’re in a bit of a transition phase right now as they put some of the pieces in place to implement the Green Energy Act,” said David Miller, a planner in the city’s environmental planning department, when asked about the potential impact of Findlay’s case.

A spokeswoman for the Environment Ministry couldn’t say how the Green Energy Act might affect proposals such as Findlay’s, but draft regulations suggest that turbines that generate less than three kilowatts would not require renewable-energy approval.

Neither she nor the city could say who would approve such turbines in the future.

By Brendan Kennedy

The Ottowa Citizen

3 July 2009

Tags: Wind power, Wind energy

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