04-13-2015 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, March 23, 2015 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 8 of 18 (6. #14-3700 CITY OF ORONO – AMEND CITY CODE SECTION 78-1379, SMALL WIND CONVERSION SYSTEMS (WECS) SECOND REVIEW continued) Gaffron stated the school property is fairly substantial. Gaffron stated the draft standards for the commercial/industrial district were not changed in the draft ordinance and mimics those for residential zones. Gaffron indicated the draft ordinance is before the City Council tonight and that in his view it is closer to a final product than it was two weeks ago but that there are still some blanks that will need to be filled in. Levang stated the only issue that is bothering her at this point is reducing the 300-foot setback from lot lines down to 100 feet. Levang indicated she understands the Council’s desire to allow WECS, which is why the setback was reduced to 100 feet, but that she is wondering whether that is still too much. Levang stated when you look at the topographical maps; you can see that 300 feet is too much but that she is not comfortable with 100 feet. Levang noted the ordinance allows 150 feet from the principal structure but less to the lot line. City Attorney Mattick noted it is from the neighbor’s property line. Levang stated in her view they are perhaps putting more of a burden on the neighbor than the property owner. Mattick indicated Staff could revise it to make it 100 feet from the principal structure and further on the lot line setback. Mattick stated when he discussed the setbacks with Staff; one of the struggles was that several setbacks are contemplated. One of those is the break-away zone, which would contain the structure on the subject property if it should fall and is a valid reason for establishing a specific setback. Mattick noted the problem with the 300 feet was that it made it very difficult to locate the structure even on the 10-acre parcels and the 100 feet still provides that fall-away zone. Mattick pointed out the neighbor will have some setback on their property as well. Mattick stated the City Council does not want to create standards so there are no properties where WECS can be located. Levang indicated she would be amenable to reducing the 150 feet from the principal structure down to 100 feet. Mattick stated in his view that would still provide ample fall-away room. Printup asked if Council Member Levang would be open to reducing the 10-acre minimum and just going with the setback. Levang stated she would stick with the 10 acres. Printup indicated he would be okay with just having the fall-away zone. Levang stated the reality is that many Orono homes are clustered together and that the City Council has a responsibility to protect the adjoining homeowners from the noise, the visual impacts, and everything else that goes with a wind turbine. Levang stated Orono has a fair number of 10-acre parcels and changing the 150-foot setback from the principal structure allows for more opportunities. Item #03 - CC Agenda - 04/13/2015 Approval of Council Minutes 03/23/15 [Page 8 of 18]