N.S. government imposes changes on West Hants wind turbine amendments 

A Lower Vaughan resident is among those expressing concern after the Nova Scotia government imposed changes on West Hants Regional Municipality planning documents relating to large scale wind turbines.

Steven Hart said that while he didn’t think that the municipal amendments as proposed would make it through provincial ministerial approval, he didn’t expect the province to “overrule it in such a manner to make our bylaws worse for residents or our council.”

He said a public consultation process resulted in larger setback distances being proposed to address the increasing size of modern turbines. Hart said reducing the setback distance is “contrary to the public’s wishes, as well as common sense.”

Hart said he wonders what is in store for other municipalities in the province that have wind turbine bylaws that are more stringent than in West Hants.

“I would be concerned for those municipalities,” Hart said. “It’s been proven the province has a long reach; I wonder if they’ll be reaching over into those counties as well.”

Hart said that while he respects the powers of municipal and provincial governments, the province’s decision “seems to be a bit of an overreach in my opinion.” He said it’s a “farce” for the provincial government to frame the reason for the changes as helping to achieve its goals for green energy development.

Hart said reducing setbacks from dwellings or considering the visual intrusiveness of wind turbines has nothing to do with achieving the province’s green energy goals.

Visions ‘didn’t align’

West Hants council discussed Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) and Land Use Bylaw (LUB) amendments and the province’s decision regarding proposed changes for large scale wind turbines at its Jan. 28 meeting.

Mayor Abraham Zebian said Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr has exercised his authority and made changes to MPS and LUB amendments council approved in September. These relate to setback distances the municipality included following a public hearing. The province also removed wording about the visual intrusiveness of proposed wind developments.

Zebian said he felt that council had “robust” public engagement and had covered all its bases.

“We made the changes based on what we felt was best for our community and the province’s statements of interest, their vision going forward, didn’t align with our vision for our community,” Zebian said.

A Jan. 14 letter to the municipality from provincial planning director Christina Lovitt says the minister has approved the municipality’s changes to the MPS and LUB, with amendments. Changes were made to what the municipality proposed to bring the planning documents “in closer alignment” to provincial interests.

“The amendments made by the minister are to bring the Municipal Planning Strategy closer in alignment with the provincial interest outlined in the Climate Change Plan for Clean Growth, Clean Power Plan, and the Green Hydrogen Action Plan to implement legislated goals in the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act,” the letter states.

Maximum numbers, heights

Coun. Jim Ivey asked if council could incorporate maximums on the number of wind turbines in the municipality or maximum turbine heights in the planning documents; or consider a moratorium. Council passed a motion to have staff explore these options and report back.

Considering the province’s decision, chief administrative officer Mark Phillips said staff wanted council’s direction on a proposed study on cumulative visual impacts relating to wind turbines. He said the municipality has a quote from one vendor, about $60,000, and it would likely take until the end of August to complete the work.

The matter was discussed later during an in-camera session. Following the meeting, Zebian said there were no motions made about the study. He said council would have a more thorough discussion on steps forward regarding the study and the proposed Bear Lake wind project, which would predominately be situated in West Hants but also have a footprint in Chester and Halifax municipalities, at the next meeting.

Hart said he finds the wording of the province’s letter odd when it states that the municipality’s MPS and LUB changes were approved with amendments. He said this is far from an approval and it makes him wonder about the merit and legalities involved.

Hart said that when he submitted his request for municipal amendments, it was for an “operational pause” between developments so that “residents and council members could get an understanding of the visual intrusiveness of one wind farm, prior to approving another.”

He said that in the Lower Vaughan area, the only development currently approved is Benjamin Mills. When fully built out, it could have as many as 28 turbines. Hart lives five to six kilometres from the site.

Another proposed wind farm is Bear Lake, part of which would be about five kilometres away from where he lives. It would involve 15 turbines at three sites, including Vaughan, where the majority of the turbines would be located.

He said the only concerns he used to have regarding wind turbines related to wildlife and ecology, but this changed after the Bear Lake wind farm was proposed. He began educating himself about the inner workings of wind farms and became “disgusted” after seeing the South Canoe project. Hart said he finds everything about wind development concerning now.

About the amendments

Permanent installations of large-scale wind turbines will still be considered only by development agreement, but the province has removed the wording “due to the potential future development of land within the WHRM and opportunities for landowners”; and the wording “where the proposed wind turbine placement is setback 2.5 km from abutting lots with frontage on a roadway, unless written permission is given by the abutting property owner.”

It will be council’s policy to consider the development of permanent or long-term installations of large wind turbines or wind farms outside the growth centre, village, and hamlet designations while having regard for several points.

These include that any environmental assessments required by the provincial or federal governments have been completed, safe road access can be provided, any other matter which may be addressed in a development agreement, and other policy.

The province removed the criteria “the development is not visually intrusive in the landscape, taking into account the location and distance from which it is visible, and the significance and sensitivity of the landscape, topography, vegetation and built form in the surrounding area.”

Added on provincial review was wording to the effect “adequate separation distances are maintained from adjacent land uses to minimize impacts of noise and shadow and to ensure public safety, but installations shall not be required to have separation distances from a dwelling that exceed the greater of four times the wind turbine height; and the distance required to ensure that sound levels from the wind turbine do not exceed 40 dBA at the exterior of a residential dwelling, and a residential dwelling receives less than 30 minutes per day or 30 hours per year of shadow flicker.”