Towns seek to regulate solar and wind power at homes

Towns seek to regulate solar and wind power at homes

By Meggan Clark
Contributing Writer
SCARBOROUGH (Feb 28): Recognizing the growing popularity of alternative energy, Scarborough officials are considering new zoning rules that would regulate personal solar panels and wind turbines.

"Both solar and and wind power are beginning to become more common energy sources," said Town Manager Ron Owens. "More and more people are going to be interested in them ... (We are) anticipating that at some point in time, someone is going to want to put up a windmill."

The town doesn't have any written rules about wind turbines and solar panels ? a fact that came to a head last year when resident Laurence Gardner put up five free-standing solar panels in front of his residence at Grondin Pond.

The construction irked his neighbors, who were upset they hadn't been informed of the planned construction and found the solar panels aesthetically disturbing.

Town officials, however, said there was nothing they could do. While the town has plenty of rules regarding houses, businesses, signs, and just about every other type of construction, it doesn't have any rules about solar panels.

Owens said the decision to consider new zoning wasn't prompted by Gardner's solar panels specifically, but by "a desire to keep up with the future."

"We don't want to get into the position of saying, 'No, you can't have these,'" he said. "(We want) to try to make them as (aesthetically) friendly as possible."

Cape Elizabeth is also looking at zoning ammendments that would allow the town to construct a windmill of up to 100 feet tall on town-owned property. Although the town planning board had originally recommended windmills also be permitted on residential property, Ordinance Committee members said in a Feb. 25 memo to the Town Council that they prefer "a more incremental approach to test the appropriateness of windmills" in town.

The Ordinance Committee has asked the Alternative Energy Committee to develop a plan to install a windmill on town property. Council members are expected to discuss the proposed ordinance at their next meeting, Town Planner Maureen O'Meara.

Personal solar-energy systems are becoming increasingly popular in Maine, according to Richard Fortier, program manager for the state's solar rebate program. The program, which offers rebates to homeowners who install solar equipment, received 72 applications in January 2008, compared with 13 in January 2007, Fortier said.

Since its inception in 2005, the program has helped pay for 244 solar hot water systems, 19 hot air heating systems, and 63 solar electric systems, he said.

The most popular is a roughly 8-by-8-foot solar hot water system, which can be mounted on a rooftop or on the ground. Costs generally run in the $6,000 to $8,000 range.

The state is offering rebates of 30 percent, or $2,500, whichever is lower, for personal solar heating systems and 35 percent or $10,000, whichever is lower, for commercial ones.

Solar heating systems can be used to heat either household water or the air in the home itself.

The program for solar electric systems is out of money and will not be funded again until 2009.

Nationwide, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 12,561 watts' worth of solar energy systems were shipped to customers in 1997; more than 206,000 watts were shipped in 2006, the most recent year for which records are available.

The Ordinance Committee, a subcommittee of the Town Council, will meet at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday in Council Chamber A to discuss the proposed new zoning regulations.

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Council asks for more limits on windmills

By Meggan Clark
Contributing Writer
CAPE ELIZABETH (March 6): Sleek windmills may someday turn in the skies over Cape Elizabeth, powering town buildings and lessening the dependence on foreign oil.

But Town Council members are in no hurry to see them looming over historic Fort Williams Park, or making the decidedly unpalatable noise Town Manager Michael McGovern describes as emanating from Saco's downtown wind turbine.

Councilors had their first look at a new proposed town windmill ordinance Monday night, and, although they said they support the concept, they were concerned the language in the ordinance wasn't specific enough to limit windmills only to town property and only to appropriate areas.

Councilors voted 6-0 to refer the document back to the Ordinance Committee for fine-tuning.

Councilors unanimously spoke in favor of the plan, which dates back to last year, when resident Warren Roos approached the town about building a personal windmill on his land.

The town Planning Board drafted an ordinance in December that would have allowed windmills on private property, but Town Council members felt it would be a better idea to start with one windmill on town-owned property so, as Councilor Sara Lennon put it, "the citizens of Cape could get a feel for it.

"?We were extremely interested but a little nervous about letting people put up windmills all over town," she said.

Since then, the town Alternative Energy Committee has been intensively researching options for building a windmill on town property, as well as other ways to make town buildings and vehicles greener and more efficient.

While Town Council members said they support the proposed ordinance in theory, they were concerned that it didn't spell out clearly enough where windmills could be constructed.

After spending some time stuck in traffic under Saco's 100-foot downtown windmill, which he described as quite noisy, Town Manager Michael McGovern agreed that the ordinance should be a little more specific.

"It is the ugliest ? It certainly is not compatible with Fort Williams Park," he said. He said he generally does not comment on proposed zoning ordinances.

"It is true that it is extremely loud," Lennon admitted.

But, she added, "We don't have to approve a 100-foot windmill," she said. "(The proposed ordinance) doesn't mean we have to have Saco's windmill in front of the IGA."

Town Council members said they remain committed to the windmill concept. Chairwoman Mary Ann Lynch said she believes a developer would be willing to invest in a windmill on town-owned property if it were found to be economically feasible.

And council members said they would keep an open mind to the variety of windmills there are out there. A 35-foot windmill, said Councilor James Rowe, would be no louder than a vacuum cleaner.

"I think it is very important to be open-minded and not to try to garner all the details up front," Councilor Paul McKenney said. "Keep in mind the goal. The goal is to reduce our reliance on foreign oil. There's always going to be a reason why we can't do it ? Let's keep an open mind."

Lennon said the Alternative Energy Committee has been meeting with town department heads and alternative energy experts, and looking into a variety of ways the town can become an environmental leader, from making buildings more energy efficient to using environmentally friendly fuels in town vehicles to tapping wind or tidal energy.

"Essentially, the goal is at the end of the year to submit a comprehensive report to the town," she said. The report would outline short-term and long-term investments that would save money and make Cape greener, a roadmap for a "gradual movement away" from fossil fuels over the next decade.

If the council had approved of the wording of the ordinance, a public hearing would have been scheduled for the next council meeting on April 14. It is unclear when the council will again consider the ordinance, now that it has been sent back to the Ordinance Committee for revision.