February 21, 2011
Nova Scotia

Wind turbine policy issue goes public

Erin Pottie, Cape Breton Post, www.capebretonpost.com 20 February 2011

SYDNEY —A public meeting will be held in early March to consider changes to municipal land-use bylaws used to regulate the construction of wind turbines

Cape Breton Regional Municipality council passed a motion Tuesday to adopt a public participation program to offer the public a forum to comment on and critique the current regulatory provisions and various alternatives, which were made in a recent CBRM staff issue paper.

“(The) public participation program (is) solely on issue of how we are currently regulating wind turbines and whether or not we should change the current provisions,” said municipal planner Malcolm Gillis.

Over 60 people attended a similar public forum, including two open houses, in 2005, that led to a generally enthusiastic support of wind turbine development.

However, amendments made to the CBRM’s development standards didn’t designate locations where utility-scale wind turbines were to be placed, except for a setback pertaining to the height of the tower.

A call to investigate wind turbine regulation comes after Janet and Bruce Fraser of Hinchey Avenue in New Waterford made a presentation before council’s committee of the whole in October.

Bruce Fraser acquired the property in a CBRM tax sale, and although it was within an industrially zoned corridor, the Fraser family later sought an amendment from CBRM to permit residential development.

The CBRM’s staff issue paper focus on four aspects: how the Fraser’s got a building/development permit to construct a single-detached dwelling in an industrially zoned corridor; the process that led to the adoption of the current CBRM land-use policy regulating utility-scale wind turbines; a review of the new phenomenon of utility-scale wind turbines; and a review of the current legal mechanisms that could be used to regulate wind turbine development.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/02/21/wind-turbine-policy-issue-goes-public/