The provisions of this article shall be referred to as the "Commercial
Wind Energy Facilities Regulations of the Town of Eaton."
The purpose of this article is to provide standards for commercial
wind energy conversion systems with maximum generating capacity exceeding
100 kilowatts (hereinafter "CWECS"). The intent of this article is
to encourage the development of commercial wind energy conversion
systems and to protect the public health, safety, and community welfare.
No person, firm, or corporation being the owner or occupant
of any land or premises within the Town of Eaton shall use or permit
the use of said land or premises for the construction of a CWECS except
in conformance with these regulations and only upon first obtaining
a special permit and site plan approval therefor as herein provided.
The following lot size, dimension and construction standards
apply to all CWECS facilities:
A. Minimum lot size shall be five acres.
B. Minimum road frontage shall be 450 feet.
C. Minimum lot depth shall be 450 feet.
D. Maximum structure height shall be as determined by the Planning Board
in the course of its special permit review.
E. Setbacks.
(1)
The minimum setback distance between each production line commercial
wind power electricity generation unit (wind turbine tower) and all
surrounding street and property lines, overhead utility lines, any
dwellings, and any other generation units, aboveground transmission
facilities, and separate meteorological facilities, shall be equal
to no less than 1.5 times the proposed structure height plus the rotor
radius. The property line setback requirement may be reduced by the
Planning Board as an incident of special permit review when the Planning
Board finds that the following circumstances apply:
(a)
The property line in question:
[1] Separates two properties that are both part of
a commercial wind-powered electricity generation facility; and
[2] Either:
[a] Both properties on each side of the boundary line
in question will have electricity generation or transmission facilities
constructed on them as part of the project under review; or
[b] The owner of the property for which the reduced
setback is sought executes and presents for recording a development
easement satisfactory to the Town in which the reduced setback is
consented to, and construction within, and use of, the easement area
is appropriately restricted.
(2)
No experimental, home-built, or prototype wind turbines shall
be allowed without documentation by the applicant of their maximum
probable blade throw distance in the event of failure, and a determination
by the Planning Board of appropriate setback distances on the basis
of that documentation.
F. No individual tower facility shall be installed in any location along
the major axis of an existing microwave communications link where
its operation is likely to produce electromagnetic interference in
the link's operation.
G. No individual tower facility shall be installed in any location where
its proximity with existing fixed broadcast, retransmission, or reception
antenna (including residential reception antenna) for radio, television,
or wireless phone or other personal communication systems would produce
electromagnetic interference with signal transmission or reception.
H. Use of nighttime, and overcast daytime condition, stroboscopic lighting
to satisfy tower facility lighting requirements for the Federal Aviation
Administration shall be subject to on-site field testing before the
Planning Board as a prerequisite to that Board's approval as it applies
to existing residential uses within 2,000 feet of each tower for which
such strobe lighting is proposed.
I. No individual tower facility shall be installed in any location that
would substantially detract from or block view of a portion of a recognized
scenic viewshed, as viewed from any public road right-of-way or publicly
owned land within the Town of Eaton, or that extends beyond the border
of the Town of Eaton.
J. Individual wind turbine towers shall be located with relation to
property lines so that the level of noise produced during wind turbine
operation shall not exceed 50 dbA, measured at the boundaries of all
of the closest parcels that are owned by non-site owners and that
abut either the site parcel(s) or any other parcels adjacent to the
site parcel held in common by the owner of the site parcel as those
boundaries exist at the time of special use permit application.
K. No wind turbines shall be permitted that lack an automatic braking,
governing, or feathering system to prevent uncontrolled rotation,
overspeeding, and excessive pressure on the tower structure, rotor
blades, and turbine components.
L. The minimum distance between the ground and any part of the rotor
blade system shall be 30 feet.
M. All power transmission lines from the wind generation electricity
generation facilities to on-site substations shall be underground.
N. Procedures acceptable to the Planning Board for emergency shutdown
of power generation units shall be established and posted prominently
and permanently on at least one location on the road frontage of each
individual unit site.
O. Prior to issuance of a building permit, the applicant shall provide
the Town proof, in the form of a duplicate insurance policy or a certificate
issued by an insurance company, of liability insurance, of a level
to be determined by the Town Board in consultation with the Town's
insurer, to cover damage or injury which might result from the failure
of a tower or towers or any other part(s) of the generation and transmission
facility.
In addition to the site plan materials otherwise listed in this
article, the following material shall be submitted to the Planning
Board for the Board's special permit review of applications for commercial
wind power electricity generation and/or transmission facilities:
A. Digital elevation model-based project visibility map showing the
impact of topography upon visibility of the project from other locations,
to a distance radius of three miles from the center of the project.
Scale used shall depict three-mile radius as no smaller than 2.7 inches,
and the base map used shall be a published topographic map showing
cultural features.
B. No fewer than four and no more than the number of proposed individual
wind turbines plus three, color photos, no smaller than three inches
by five inches taken from locations within a three-mile radius from
it and to be selected by the Planning Board, and computer enhanced
to simulate the appearance of the as-built aboveground site facilities
as they would appear from these locations.
C. Manufacturer's data sheets and such other information as may be necessary
to fully describe the make, model, features, generating capacity of
the proposed facilities and the manufacturer's installation specifications
and recommendations.
D. A civil engineer's report summarizing the local roads that will be
used for access to the site both during and after construction of
the facility, including an assessment of the likelihood of damage
that may be caused to public roads as a result of the construction
and operation of the facility. The Planning Board shall have authority
to require the posting of financial security by the applicant to ensure
the repair and/or reconstruction of any and all public roads, or portions
thereof, damaged as a consequence of the construction and/or operation
of the facility.
Any CWECS facility, or portion thereof, that is not used for
12 successive months shall be deemed abandoned and shall be dismantled
and removed from the property at the expense of the owner. Failure
to abide by and faithfully comply with this section or with any and
all conditions that may be attached to the granting of any permit(s)
shall constitute grounds for the revocation of the permit(s) by the
Town. In addition, failure to remove an obsolete or unused tower in
accordance with this section shall be a violation of this section
and subject to fine and/or imprisonment or both. Any and all structures,
guy cables and/or enclosures accessory to such CWECS shall also be
removed, and the site shall be restored to as natural a condition
as possible.