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