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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 13, 2015 7:00 o’clock p.m. __________________________________________________________________________________ Page 8 of 40 (5. #14-3700 AMEND CITY CODE SECTION 78-1379, SMALL WIND CONVERSION SYSTEMS (WECS) – FINAL REVIEW – ORDINANCE NO. 142 continued) 4. Pursuant to prior discussions, SWECS in commercial and industrial zones are to be a conditional use. Not specifically discussed at the March 23 meeting but which needs to be included is a listing of the commercial and industrial districts in which SWECS will be allowed. The list includes B-1 Retail Sales; B-4 Office and Professional; B-6 Highway Commercial; B-6 PUD; and I Industrial. The B-2, B-3, and B-5 districts were excluded because each of these districts is wholly located within the Shoreland where SWECS will not be allowed. 5. The Council chose to use shadow flicker text Option 4, which does not allow for shadow flicker and requires a shadow flicker report as part of any application for SWECS. Staff recommends adoption of the ordinance and summary ordinance. Gaffron noted the Council also has the option of publishing the full ordinance rather than the summary ordinance. McMillan noted the City has been working on this ordinance for quite some time and that the Council has asked for public comment on two separate occasions. McMillan stated from her point of view, she feels pretty good with everything that is in the ordinance. McMillan noted the Council has seen how wind turbines, whether intentionally or unintentionally, can cause some disruption to some of the neighbors. McMillan stated the City has taken a lot of caution in dealing with this issue. Currently the City has one wind turbine that has been installed illegally, and back in 1999 the City had a request for a variance, which was denied because it was not in the City Code. In that situation it was proposed the wind turbine would be 100 feet up in the air. McMillan noted the City has not had a lot of requests for these and that the City would like to be cautious in what is allowed. McMillan stated if wind turbines become more popular and more in demand, the City can re-examine the ordinance but that the ordinance is patterned off of a lot of other neighboring cities’ ordinances as it concerns vibration and some of the other issues. Gaffron stated many of the elements of the ordinance appear in many other cities’ ordinances regarding WECS. McMillan stated as it relates to the shadow flicker, she possibly would be okay with removing that from the ordinance. McMillan stated in her view Mr. Nygard has made some good points about the shadow flicker report and that the ordinance contains adequate setbacks where a shadow flicker report might not be needed at this point. McMillan stated the Council has wrestled with the idea of a shadow flicker report and that if the other Council Members feel it is too onerous with someone obtaining a report, she would be okay with striking out or changing the language so a report would not be required. Levang stated the City Council and Planning Commission have spent a considerable amount of time vetting this ordinance and have done an enormous amount of research. Levang stated in her view the conclusions the Council has come to are very firm and that she is comfortable with those conclusions. Levang noted the Council has also wrestled with the setback from the lot line and whether it should be 100 feet or 300 feet. Levang pointed out that many wind turbines are 45 feet tall or the height of a telephone pole. Levang stated the residents can be comfortable knowing that this Council does not want someone to have a 45-foot element staring them in the face. City Council Meeting April 27, 2015 Page 10 of 257