This article shall be known as the "Small Wind Turbine Ordinance
for the Town of Cumberland, Maine."
This article is adopted pursuant to the enabling provisions
of Article VIII, Part 2, Section 1, of the Maine Constitution, the
provisions of 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3001 (home rule), and the
provisions of the Planning and Land Use Regulation Act, 30-A M.R.S.A.
§ 4312 et seq.
The purpose of this article is to provide for the construction
and operation of small wind turbines in both residential and nonresidential
districts in Cumberland, Maine, subject to reasonable conditions that
will protect the public health, safety, and welfare.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
APPLICANT
The legal entity, including successors and assigns, that
files an application under this article.
APPROVED RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVISION
A residential subdivision for which all applicable land use
permits have been issued, provided that the time for beginning construction
under such permits has not expired.
ASSOCIATED FACILITIES
Elements of a wind energy facility other than its generating
facilities that are necessary to the proper operation and maintenance
of the wind energy facility, including but not limited to buildings,
access roads, generator lead lines and substations.
DEP CERTIFICATION
A certification issued by the Department of Environmental
Protection pursuant to 35-A M.R.S.A. § 3456 for a wind energy
development.
GENERATING FACILITIES
Wind turbines and electrical lines, not including generator
lead lines, that are immediately associated with the wind turbines.
GENERATOR LEAD LINE
A generator interconnection transmission facility as defined
by 35-A M.R.S.A. § 3132, Subsection 1-B.
HISTORIC AREA
A historic site administered by the Bureau of Parks and Lands
of the Maine Department of Conservation, with the exception of the
Arnold Trail.
HISTORIC SITE
Any site, structure, district or archaeological site which
has been officially included on the National Register of Historic
Places and/or on the Maine Historic Resource Inventory, or which is
established by qualified testimony as being of historic significance.
LOCALLY DESIGNATED PASSIVE RECREATION AREA
Any site or area designated by a municipality for passive
recreation that is open and maintained for public use and which:
B.
Is owned in fee simple by a municipality or is accessible by
virtue of public easement;
C.
Is identified and described in a local comprehensive plan; and
D.
Has been identified and designated at least nine months prior
to the submission of the applicant's small wind turbine permit
application.
METEOROLOGICAL TOWER (MET TOWER)
A tower used for the measurement and collection of wind data
that supports various types of equipment, including but not limited
to anemometers, data recorders, and solar power panels. Meteorological
towers have a height restriction of 175 feet, rather than the small
wind turbine limit of 150 feet. Meteorological towers may also include
wildlife-related equipment such as Anabat detectors, bird diverts
and wildlife entanglement protectors. Meteorological towers erected
on a temporary basis for the purpose of determining wind availability
shall not be subject to the one-hundred-seventy-five-foot height restriction.
NACELLE
The frame and housing at the top of the tower that encloses
the gearbox and generator.
NONPARTICIPATING LANDOWNER
Any landowner, other than a participating landowner, whose
land is located within the Town of Cumberland.
OCCUPIED BUILDING
A residence, school, hospital, house of worship, public library
or other building that is occupied or in use as a primary residence
or is customarily frequented by the public at the time when the permit
application is submitted.
PARTICIPATING LANDOWNER
One or more persons that hold title in fee or a leasehold
interest with sublease rights to property on which generating facilities
or associated facilities are proposed to be located pursuant to an
agreement with the applicant or an entity that has entered into an
appropriate agreement with the applicant allowing the applicant to
demonstrate the requisite right, title and interest in such property.
PERSON
An individual, corporation, partnership, firm, organization
or other legal entity.
PLANNED RESIDENCE
A residence for which all applicable building and land use
permits have been issued, provided that the time for beginning construction
under such permits has not expired.
RESIDENCE
A building or structure, including manufactured housing,
maintained for permanent or seasonal residential occupancy providing
living, cooking and sleeping facilities and having permanent indoor
or outdoor sanitary facilities, excluding recreational vehicles, tents,
and watercraft.
SHORT-DURATION REPETITIVE SOUNDS
A sequence of repetitive sounds which occurs more than once
within an hour, each clearly discernible as an event and causing an
increase in the sound level of at least five dBA on the fast meter
response above the sound level observed immediately before and after
the event, each typically less than 10 seconds in duration, and which
is inherent to the process or operation of the development and is
foreseeable.
SMALL WIND TURBINE
A wind energy facility having a maximum generating capacity
of less than 10 kilowatts and a maximum turbine height of 150 feet.
Only turbines that meet this definition are allowed in the Town of
Cumberland.
SUBSTANTIAL START
Construction shall be considered to be substantially commenced
when any work beyond excavation, including but not limited to the
pouring of a slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction
of columns, or the placement of a tower on a foundation, has begun.
TOWER
The freestanding structure on which a wind measuring or energy
conversion system is mounted.
TURBINE HEIGHT
The distance measured from the surface of the tower foundation
to the highest point of any turbine rotor blade measured at the highest
arc of the blade.
WIND TURBINE
A system for the conversion of wind energy into electricity
which is comprised of a tower, generator, and/or nacelle, rotor and
transformer.
If there is a conflict between provisions in this article, the
more stringent shall apply. If there is a conflict between a provision
in this article and that of another Town of Cumberland ordinance,
the provision of this article shall apply.
Applications for meteorological (MET) towers shall be subject
to the submission and review standards for a small wind turbine. A
permit for an MET tower shall be valid for one year and two months
from the date of issuance. The Code Enforcement Officer may grant
one or more one-year extensions of this permit period. Within 30 days
following removal of an MET tower, the applicant shall restore the
site to its original condition to the extent practicable. The provisions
of this section do not apply to permanent MET towers included as associated
facilities in approved small wind turbine applications.
Noise emanating from small wind turbines shall be controlled
in accordance with the provisions of this section.
A. The sound-level limits contained in this section apply to property
boundaries that describe the outer limits of the facility site in
combination with any parcel(s) owned by a participating landowner
that is contiguous with the facility site.
B. The sound-level limits contained in this section do not apply to
the facility site or any parcel(s) owned by a participating landowner
that is contiguous with the facility site.
C. The sound levels resulting from routine operation of a small wind turbines, as measured in accordance with the procedures described in Subsection
E, shall not exceed 60 dBA at the property boundaries that describe the outer limits of the facility site combined with any parcel(s) owned by a participating landowner that is contiguous with the facility site.
D. If the applicant submits the certification and acknowledgement required by §
300-8C, the municipal entity responsible for review and approval of the application under §
300-7A shall determine, for purposes of issuing its approval, that the pertinent sound-level limits under this section have been met, subject to the applicant's obligation to take remedial action as necessary under Subsection
F.
E. The Code Enforcement Officer may perform measurements of sound levels
resulting from routine operation of an installed small wind turbine
at the officer's own initiative or in response to a noise-related
complaint to determine compliance with the pertinent standards in
this section. Such measurements shall be performed as follows:
(1) Measurements shall be obtained during representative weather conditions
when the sound of the small wind turbines is most clearly noticeable.
Preferable weather conditions for sound measurements at distances
greater than about 500 feet from the sound source include overcast
days when the measurement location is downwind of the small wind turbine
and inversion periods (which most commonly occur at night).
(2) Sound levels shall be measured at least four feet above the ground
by a meter set on the A-weighted response scale, fast response. The
meter shall meet the latest version of the American National Standards
Institute's American Standard Specification for General Purpose Sound-Level
Meters (ANSI S1.4) and shall have been calibrated at a recognized
laboratory within the past year.
(3) Five dBA shall be added to sound levels of any short-duration repetitive sound measured in accordance with Subsection
E(1) and
(2).
F. The applicant shall operate the proposed small wind turbine in conformance with the sound level limits of this section. If, based on post-installation measurements taken in accordance with Subsection
C, the Code Enforcement Officer determines that the applicable sound-level limits are not being met, the applicant shall, at the applicant's expense and in accordance with this article and in consultation with the Code Enforcement Officer, take remedial action deemed necessary by the Code Enforcement Officer to ensure compliance with those limits. Remedial action that the Code Enforcement Officer may require includes but shall not be limited to one or more of the following:
(1) Modification or limitation of operations during certain hours or
wind conditions;
(2) Maintenance, repair, modification or replacement of equipment;
(3) Relocation of the wind turbine(s); and
(4) Removal of the wind turbine(s), provided that the Code Enforcement
Officer may require removal of the wind turbine(s) only if the Code
Enforcement Officer determines that there is no practicable alternative.
A small wind turbine that is not generating electricity for
12 consecutive months shall be deemed a discontinued use and shall
be removed from the property by the applicant within 120 days of receipt
of notice from the Code Enforcement Officer, unless the applicant
provides information that the Planning Board deems sufficient to demonstrate
that the project has not been discontinued and should not be removed.
If the small wind turbine is not removed within this time period,
the municipality may remove the turbine at the applicant's expense.
The applicant shall pay all site reclamation costs deemed necessary
and reasonable to return the site to its preconstruction condition,
including the removal of roads and reestablishment of vegetation.