03-09-2015 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,March 9,2015 7:00 o'clock p.m. (11. #14-3700 CITY OF ORONO—AMEND ZONING CODE—AMEND SECTION 78-1379: WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEMS(WECS)FIRST REVIEW,continued) Gaffron stated there could a flashing glare at certain times based on the type of turbine and where the sun is located and then there is the shadow. Gaffron stated in his view that is what the Council saw in one of the presentations,and that every time the blade passes in front of the sun,it causes a shadow. Levang stated she likes what the City Attorney has written with the verbiage neighboring residential property being inserted in there in place of structure. McMillan noted Item 15 will be deleted relating to ornamental wind devices. Gaffron stated the Planning Commission was not comfortable placing any standards for the commerciaUindustrial WECS. Mattick stated the other item for consideration is whether the Council is comfortable with having the required acreage being smaller in commercial and industrial zones than residential zones. The commercial and industrial zones are also identified as a more intense use area. McMillan noted the City does not have that many commercial or industrial zones. Gaffron indicated the commerciaUindustrial zone would primarily be near the Highway 12 area and that many of those are located close to residential areas. McMillan asked if Navarre is in the shoreland district. Gaffron indicated most of it is in the shoreland district. Gaffron stated if the City does not allow WECS in the shoreland,that would take out a significant part of Navarre. Walsh stated he does not see any reason for lessening the standards for commercial or industrial since they have to deal with all the same issues. Printup stated he would stick with the fall zones since it is a little more relaxed. Levang stated commercial is a more intense use and that there is the potential for more harm if the apparatus fell,which may magnify the safety issue. McMillan stated generally people associate wind turbines with being in the commercial or industrial areas and that she could see maybe relaxing the acreage standard in industrial zones. Walsh noted commercial businesses also tend to require higher power demands and that a wind turbine would likely not help that to any great extent. Walsh asked if the City could ban them in commercial districts. Mattick stated that is a gray area but that it is not an outright ban. Mattick stated he does not believe WECS have to be allowed in every district. Page 28 of 43