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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, March 9, 2015 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 20 of 43 11. #14-3700 CITY OF ORONO – AMEND ZONING CODE – AMEND SECTION 78-1379: WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEMS (WECS) FIRST REVIEW, continued) State statute does not recognize a distinction. It says that there are small wind generators that are less than 5000 kV and then anything over 5000 kV is regulated by the state and the city does not have a say in how those are regulated. Gaffron stated the question to be answered is how the City would like to define them. In an attempt to understand the potential differences between a 10 kv, a 100 kV, or a 5000 kV, Staff has looked at a number of other city ordinances. Wind turbines that generate electricity ranging from 10 kV up to 300 kV are defined as small in many city ordinances. A number of the city ordinances stop at 10 kV and anything larger than 10 kV is not allowed in residential zones. Planning Commission Exhibit A is a table that looks at a number of other cities’ ordinances, other jurisdictions such as Des Moines, an MPCA model ordinance, and a model from Distributed Wind Energy Association. Gaffron noted there is quite a wide range of standards in terms of what is allowed and what limits are placed for residential wind turbines. From the perspective of Staff, a lot of what was done in the early draft was mimic what was found in other city ordinances, which is not always the best way to go. Gaffron stated a number of cities have also defined an ornamental wind device as a decorative structure that appears to mimic the appearance of a wind turbine as to the use of airfoils or other wind-capturing devices but does not have electrical generating capability. Gaffron noted this definition has not been included in previous drafts of the ordinance but has been included in the most recent draft. Gaffron stated there is a question of whether the City would like to identify or recognize that there are wind ornamental devices that do not generate electricity. Mattick stated from a legislative and drafting city code perspective, the City can differentiate between different wind turbines, but then the question becomes, why is there a differentiation. Mattick stated the example he can give is if there is really no difference in terms of size and a 10 kV and a 100 kV both look the same in size, from a land use perspective, then the question becomes, what is it that the City is regulating between the two sizes. If the City knows for a fact that there is an increase in the intensity of use or size issue, then the regulation makes sense. Mattick stated the final thing is under utility wind energy conversion systems and that Staff will need to refine that further. State statute says at 5000 kV and over the City does not get to regulate those and that language will need to be included Walsh stated as it relates to ornamental wind devices, the video that was presented to the City Council shows the device spinning or moving and causing flickering even though it is not generating electricity. Walsh asked if the Council should talk about anything that is spinning or moving rather than ornamental from a flickering standpoint. Mattick stated most people are familiar with the ornamental wind device and that there are some things that spin and move that the Council is okay with. The Council may want to examine whether it is the spinning that is the problem or the flickering. Mattick stated he is not sure if the Council would be able to come up with a definition that covers all the moving pieces.