GOING 'GREEN': Akron Road landowner wants town's approval of a 1-turbine system. | By Kaley Lynch | Lockport Union-Sun & Journal | August 3, 2016 | www.lockportjournal.com
The town planning board will hold a public hearing this month on the proposed construction of a wind turbine on Akron Road.
The property owner, James Williams, wants to have a 150-foot-tall turbine erected on the 7100 block of Akron Road, which is zoned for agricultural-residential use. He will need a special use permit from the town.
Under the town’s newly adopted wind energy conversion systems law, turbine height cannot exceed 165 feet, property owners can’t have more than one turbine on a property, and the turbine must be set back from any buildings by 1.5 times the turbine’s length.
There are two buildings on Williams’ property that would be located within a length-and-a-half of the turbine, but they are both owned by Williams, according to town planner Andrew C. Reilly.
“It will probably have to go to the zoning board of appeals, but it should be a very easy variance because it’s his own buildings,” Reilly told the planning board at its Tuesday work session.
The town’s WECS law also limits placement of turbines to agricultural, agricultural-residential and industrial-zoned land areas. Williams’ property and neighboring properties are all zoned for agricultural-residential use.
The proposed turbine’s relatively small size will not create any problems with light flicker or noise, Reilly added. A similar turbine already exists on Old Saunders Settlement Road.
The turbine, manufactured and sold by Brooklyn-based United Wind, would provide power to Williams during the day. At night or whenever power isn’t being used, the wind energy would be sold into the grid in exchange for a reduced electric bill for Williams, according to Reilly.
The town’s WECS law also specifies that a turbine can’t be located within two miles of any microwave communication towers.
“We’ll have them address that at the public hearing,” Reilly said, referring to representatives from United Wind who will be in attendance at the 7 p.m. July 16 meeting.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/08/03/akron-road-landowner-seeks-oks-for-a-wind-energy-system/