04-27-2015 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 13, 2015 7:00 o’clock p.m. __________________________________________________________________________________ Page 7 of 40 (PUBLIC COMMENTS continued) Nygard stated it is obvious to him, given the above statements and the extremely restrictive nature of the proposed ordinance, that Orono has once again found a way to illegally control him while preparing to continue any legal battle until the end of time. Nygard stated he would like the Council to ask themselves when they have spent so much time and money on one issue. Nygard questioned why the Council continues to have this battle unless the goal is to not have wind turbines in the City. Nygard stated the way the ordinance is written is that the Mayor gets to have a wind turbine and he does not. Nygard stated the Council should quit treating wind turbines like pornography where it has to be behind the counter to sell and that wind turbines belong in the public eye for everyone to see. Kendall Nygard, 1386 Rest Point Road, stated she is here to represent a gentleman that owns property in Orono that is unable to be here this evening. Nygard indicated she is not going to go through all 17 points contained in the affidavit but that she will provide a copy of the affidavit to the City Council. The property is owned by Brad Erickson and is located at 2160 West Wayzata Boulevard. Nygard stated Mr. Erickson is currently remodeling the buildings on the property for commercial use and plans on using many green technologies during the remodeling efforts. Mr. Erickson has a plan for installing eight to ten more hybrid light poles and there is already one on the property. Mr. Erickson would like to use wind and solar power to offset his electrical needs. Nygard stated basically Orono’s ordinance would ban him from having any more than the one turbine that he currently has on the property at the present time and that the ordinance is a de facto ban on wind turbines. The affidavit is dated April 10, 2015. Nygard questioned how much they will have to spend to deal with the wind turbines in Orono. Nygard stated in the event the Council has not already read it, she is going to hand out the judge’s ruling concerning access to wind turbines and their rights as a Minnesotan property owner to access wind and harvest it on their property. PLANNING DEPARTMENT REPORT 5. #14-3700 AMEND CITY CODE SECTION 78-1379, SMALL WIND CONVERSION SYSTEMS (WECS) – FINAL REVIEW – ORDINANCE NO. 142 Senior Planner Gaffron noted this is the third time the City Council has reviewed the draft WECS ordinance. At its March 23 meeting, the City Council voted 3 to 1 to make certain changes to the draft ordinance, which include the following: 1. Change the minimum property boundary setback for SWECS in residential zones to 100 feet. 2. Change the maximum distance of SWECS from principal building in both residential and commercial districts to 100 feet. 3. Make the commercial and industrial zones SWECS standards identical to residential, except minimum lot size for commercial to be five acres instead of ten acres. City Council Meeting April 27, 2015 Page 9 of 257