September 26, 2017
Pennsylvania

W. Penn to advertise for new windmill ordinance

By Terry Ahner | Times News | Monday, September 25, 2017 | www.tnonline.com

West Penn Township hopes to soon have a new windmill ordinance in place.

On a 2-1 vote, with Supervisor Ted Bogosh opposed, the township’s board of supervisors agreed last week to advertise for adopting a new windmill ordinance.

The ordinance will be scheduled for adoption sometime in November, supervisors said.

Earlier this month, supervisors agreed to have board solicitor Holly Heintzelman request the GIS information from the Audubon Society in the township’s name and use the township’s email address.

Heintzelman said there’s a provision in the ordinance that says wind turbines shall be 1,000 feet below the Kittatinny Ridge.

Because it involves zoning, the windmill ordinance had to be forwarded to the Schuylkill County Planning Commission for comment.

The information will be maintained on the township computer for the purposes of the wind turbine ordinance.

Heintzelman said the township currently has about three paragraphs in its zoning ordinance that relates to windmills.

She said one of the purposes of the new ordinance is to distinguish between the requirements for windmills that might be used for residential and/or agricultural uses, which they are calling accessory wind energy facilities, and commercial wind farms, which they are calling principal wind energy facilities.

Heintzelman said the power created by accessory wind energy facilities is used primarily by the resident of the property on which the accessory wind energy facilities are located, while the power created by principal wind energy facilities is generally sold to third parties for profit.

She drafted a completely new ordinance back in November.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2017/09/26/w-penn-to-advertise-for-new-windmill-ordinance/