March 2, 2008
Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Town of Saukville panel OKs setback, noise limits
An ad hoc committee has recommended a number of conditions to meet before the Town of Saukville would issue a conditional-use permit to allow a town resident to put up a wind turbine up to 170 feet tall.
The six-member committee, which Town Chairman Jim Kadow formed, on Wednesday night unanimously endorsed the following conditions, said Debra Walls, the town zoning administrator.
The conditions include:
• The turbine must be a set distance from property lines, neighboring houses, public roads and railroads, and overhead utility lines.
The set distance is measured by taking the tallest point of the turbine and multiplying that number by 1.2. In other words, if the turbine is 100 feet high, the turbine must be at least 120 feet from the previously named structures.
• The noise caused by turbine’s spinning blades must not exceed the town’s noise standards that shouldn’t exceed between 50 and 65 decibels.
By comparison, a dishwasher or a normal conversation is about 60 decibels, while busy street traffic or a vacuum cleaner is about 70 decibels.
• The turbine owner must have liability insurance on the structure of not less than $1 million.
The town’s Plan Commission is expected to review the proposed conditions March 11, Walls said. The Plan Commission will then hold a public hearing on the conditions, and the Town Board will make the final decision on whether the town zoning ordinance should be changed to include the new standards.
Possible revisions
The town has considered revising the rules governing wind turbines because of two requests.
Riveredge Nature Center officials have said they want to put up a 110-foot wind turbine on the east end of the property, and town resident Norman Ammermann also is seeking to erect a 100-foot-high wind turbine on his 5-acre property just west of the Cedarburg Bog.
By Lawrence Sussman
1 March 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/03/02/proposed-wind-turbines-may-face-new-conditions/