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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING <br />Tuesday, January 20, 2015 <br />6:30 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br />  <br />Page 6 of 21  <br />  <br />Schoenzeit stated there could also be some minimum performance standards, which would help prevent <br />nonworking wind turbines. <br /> <br />Thiesse pointed out there are minimum manufacturer performance standards that will not provide much <br />electricity but still cause issues. <br /> <br />Landgraver stated of all the municipality ordinances, none of them has adopted anything like that and the <br />only group advocating that is the MPCA model ordinance. <br /> <br />Leskinen asked if Commissioner Thiesse would like to have minimum performance standards to prevent a <br />nuisance. <br /> <br />Thiesse stated if someone is going to install a wind turbine, it should create a fair amount of electricity. <br /> <br />Lemke questioned whether that would require the City to calibrate everyone’s wind turbine to ensure it is <br />running correctly. <br /> <br />Gaffron asked if the Planning Commission would like to see wind turbines in a commercial district and <br />whether they should be an accessory use or a conditional use. <br /> <br />Landgraver stated his personal opinion would be to make them a conditional use. <br /> <br />Leskinen indicated she would agree with that. Leskinen noted the City has very few commercial <br />properties and that they are few and far between but close to residential. Leskinen stated in her view they <br />would have to at least be a conditional use to make sure the impacts are minimized or eliminated to <br />residential areas. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated at this point he is not getting the impression that anything should be written in the Code to <br />allow them in commercial areas. <br /> <br />Landgraver stated there has been no demand and that they are close to residential neighborhoods. <br /> <br />Schoenzeit stated the proper way would be to implement a process to get a conditional use permit for a <br />WECS in a commercial district. <br /> <br />Leskinen asked if there are any disadvantages to making them a conditional use. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated some standards would need to be established for commercial districts, such as height, <br />setback and location. Gaffron stated wind turbines located in a commercial area would likely be designed <br />to produce larger amounts of electricity and would need to be higher in height. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated as it relates to height, setback, and location standards, the Planning Commission’s <br />recommendation in November of 2013 was to limit WECS as follows: <br /> <br />- Only allow WECS in the RR-1A and RR-1B, 2-acre and 5-acre Rural Residential zones. <br />- Not allow WECS in the Shoreland Overlay District, nor in wetlands or floodplains. <br />- Minimum lot size of 10 acres (gross acreage) <br />- A minimum setback to any property line of 300 feet. <br />Item #01 - PC Agenda - 02/17/2015 <br />Approval of Planning Commission Minutes [Page 6 of 21]