| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Riga Twp. wind turbines unlikely
Credit: By Tim Miller, WTOL, www.wtol.com 7 July 2011 ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Opponents of wind turbines in Lenawee Co. may have won a bigger victory then they realize.
Thursday, the developers announced they are backing down.
Wednesday night, hundreds of people against wind turbines cheered at a meeting when the Riga Township trustees approved a new zoning ordinance.
It allows wind turbines, but puts major restrictions on where they can go.
Developers must have setbacks from non-participating properties, of four times the height of the turbine. Noise generated by the turbines cannot exceed 45 decibels during the day, and 40 at night.
Because of the strong setbacks, Exelon Wind and Great Lakes Wind, partners in the so-called Blissfield Wind Project, say they cannot put one turbine in Riga Township, despite having more than 4,500 acres of land available under signed agreements with landowners.
Doug Duimering of Exelon Wind said, “We don’t have enough land to place turbines legally in Riga Township. Being compliant with the technical limits in this ordinance is impossible.”
Duimering said they’ve determined Exelon would have to get almost every landowner in the township to sign on.
“Frankly, they need to be sited in the west where there is a lot of open space,” Kevon Martis of the Informed Citizens Coalition said.
Martis says the Riga trustees sided with the citizens, over outside developers.
But many in his group at first saw it as a compromise, and not the total victory it appears to be.
“It took a little while on the phone and we will be handling out some mailers and stuff around the township to make people aware,” Martis said.
Exelon Wind will now turn its attention to neighboring Ogden and Palmyra Townships, hoping any ordinance they approve would have fewer restrictions. The Informed Citizens Coalition likely has more battles ahead.
Exelon Wind says it will have representatives at any future meetings in the other towns.
Another wind developer, Juwi Wind LLC, has been interested in Riga Township.
An official told WTOL 11 he can’t comment yet on their future plans.
But if the surrounding areas use the Riga ordinance as a model, the developers’ green energy dreams may drift away.
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
| Wind Watch relies entirely on User Contributions |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=10726 ]
