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Walmart windmills application on Wednesday’s Zoning Board agenda 

Credit:  By Elaine Piniat, lacey.patch.com 6 September 2011 ~~

OmniWind Energy Systems, LLC will be approaching the zoning Board of Adjustment once again on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. with their plan to install wind turbines in the parking lot of the Lanoka Harbor Walmart.

OmniWind was denied early in August after the application was deemed incomplete because the company failed to supply a survey of the adjacent properties.

Walmart is launching a pilot cost-saving program with OmniWind at four stores across the country. The company would install windmills in the store’s parking lots to supply electric energy to the buildings.

According to the application, OmniWind would replace 14 existing light poles with stronger poles, reinstall the light fixtures at the current height, and install small turbines and related equipment.

The applicant is seeking to get variance approval from the zoning board to extend the lighting poles to 51 feet, although code currently allows poles to rise to only 35 feet.

Each pole would have multi-bladed fans encased with a metal frame resting on a rotatable device that allows them to turn to face the wind. The turbine would be 8 feet in diameter with 4-foot blades.

The application argues that according to the Sica balancing tests, which analyzes the potential public benefits and possible detrimental effects, a wind generating facility is inherently a beneficial use. If the zoning board disagrees, OmniWind would have to make a case for the positive benefits of such turbines.

But wind systems are not a permitted use in Lacey, which is why the applicant is appearing in front of the board as a use variance, Zoning Officer Loretta Rule previously said.

A law passed by the State Senate and General Assembly in November 2009 changed the definition of “inherently beneficial use” to include wind structures. Under a second law, municipalities are kept from “unreasonably” limiting small wind energy system installations.

According to the applicant, the existing wiring will be used so trenching is not necessary. The only potential detriment the applicant noted was the visual impact of installing windmills.

But the visual impact is not the only concern of residents. They are primarily worried about safety.

Three fiberglass blades flew off the tower of a turbine at James Knoeller’s Christmas Tree Farm on Carriage Road in March. The blades weighed approximately 265 to 290 pounds each and fell just 215 feet away from Knoeller’s 17-year-old granddaughter.

Around the same time, cracks were found in the blades of a tower operated at Argos Farms on Lacey Road. As a precaution, the turbine was temporarily shut down.

With a high congestion of cars and families in the Walmart parking lot, the monetary savings are not worth the risk, Peter Zarycki previously said.

“Safety is a paramount concern for us so that’s something we’ll address and focus on when we’re putting wind turbines up on the parking lots,” said Kory Lundberg, Senior Manager of Sustainability Communications for Walmart.

Currently, a Walmart in Worcester, Mass. has 12 wind turbines up, which were installed over one year ago.

“We haven’t had any issues. Customers really like them because it’s visible. It’s something we’ve had very good success with,” said Lundberg.

For copies of the laws see the PDF’s attached to this article.

For more information on the wind turbines, read “Walmart Windmills Application Deemed Incomplete By Zoning Board” and “Residents Voice Concerns Over Walmart Windmills.”

Source:  By Elaine Piniat, lacey.patch.com 6 September 2011

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.

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