03-09-2015 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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RELEVANT LINKS: III. Zoning regulations Many cities have zoning ordinances that may not address the location of wind turbines,as the ordinance may not include them as an allowed use in any zoning district.Also,typical height limits would likely effectively prevent the installation of many, if not most,turbines.Even though the city may have never considered the issue when planning and zoning,the zoning See Minnesota Green Step ordinance may prohibit. Without a change in a zoning ordinance,wind Cities for a model wind turbines may not be legally installed. A number of cities have amended their enetgy ordinance ordinances in the last several years to permit and regulate the location of WECS,and several model wind ordinances have been promulgated. A. Impacts Concerns generally relate to the impact on neighboring properties, generally visual impacts, and noise. Wind towers can be hundreds of feet tall and seen for miles,much like a water tower or telecommunication tower.Noise impacts include not only the noise of turbine blades moving through the air, but also humming of inechanical gears. Typically,the way to accommodate these concerns is to establish setbacks from property lines,dwellings,and natural resources. In fully developed, dense neighborhoods,there simply may not be sufficient space to accommodate a turbine of any significant size. Larger turbines may not be appropriate in residential areas. B. Commercial versus non-commercial turbines The city will need to determine what size of WECS they wish to allow where and whether they will be conditional uses or permitted uses. The zoning ordinance may divide WECS into different classes for local regulation,with larger turbines being more restricted as to district if they're allowed at all. Some ordinances distinguish between commercial sized turbines and non- commercial turbines. For example, commercial turbines might be defined as WECS of 100 kilowatts or greater, and restricted to a conditional use in some agricultural or industrial districts.Non-commercial WECS of less than 100 kilowatts might be designated as permitted uses in the agricultural or industrial districts, and as conditional in certain commercial, institutional or low-density districts. Cities may also wish to consider setting separate,more permissive standards for very sma112 to 5 kilowatt micro systems marketed to single residences. League of Minnesota Cities InformaUon Mema ��g�2009 Planning for Wind Turbines Page 2