This article shall be known as "the Town of Bethel Commercial
Wind Energy Facility Ordinance."
In addition to the Town's site plan review, the applicant shall
send the Planning Board's announcement of the public hearing about
the application to all property owners within two miles of the proposed
MET tower site at least 14 days prior to that public hearing.
The Town's site plan review shall apply, with the following modifications:
A. The Planning Board is required to hold a public hearing within 30
days of the determination of a complete application. The Planning
Board shall write an announcement describing the public hearing in
detail, including its purpose, time, date, and location. At least
14 days prior to the public hearing, the applicant shall send the
Planning Board's announcement to all property owners within two miles
of the proposed CWEF footprint.
B. From the date of the announcement of the public hearing described in Subsection
A above until at least 45 days following the public hearing, the public shall have access to the site plan application in the Town office during regular office hours. The public will have 45 days from the date of the public hearing to provide written comments to the Planning Board concerning the proposed CWEF. The owner/operator will have an additional 15 days to provide the Planning Board with its responses to the public comments.
C. Within 60 days of the public hearing or 90 days of the determination
of a complete application, the Planning Board shall approve the application,
approve the application with conditions, or disapprove the application.
[Amended 6-12-2024 ATM
by Art. 12]
D. Any significant modification of the approved CWEF, such as, but not limited to, the size of the project's footprint, the number of CWTs, tower height, tower locations, turbine design and specifications, shall require the applicant to obtain an amended site plan pursuant to this article. The application procedures and permit requirements and standards for amending a site plan application are the same as for an initial application, as described in §
160-10, above.
[Amended 6-15-2022]
E. Approval of a CWEF permit under this article does not exempt an applicant
from obtaining other applicable permits from the Town, such as building,
electrical, plumbing and shoreland zoning permits, or any applicable
state or federal permit.
F. The approved CWEF site plan application allows the applicant/owner/operator
to construct and operate the CWEF for the complete life span of the
project through decommissioning as long as it abides by all provisions
of this and other Town ordinances.
[Amended 6-15-2022]
On every second anniversary of the date of approval, the owner/operator
shall submit to the Select Board the following updated materials:
A. Evidence of the current owner/operator's financial ability, or evidence
of a new owner/operator's technical and financial ability, to operate
the CWEF in accordance with the requirements of this article;
B. Copies of any new agreements of the current owner/operator, or any
agreements that a new owner/operator has entered into, involving any
project parcel not owned by the owner/operator, or any participating
parcel;
C. Updates of all emergency or safety plans;
D. An inspection/enforcement fee in an amount established by the Select
Board to cover anticipated CWEF-related inspection/enforcement costs
during the coming two-year period, based on its past experience with
such costs;
E. Proof that all financial responsibilities described in §
160-7, above, are fulfilled.
Site plan approvals shall expire two years after the date of
approval unless substantial construction of permanent structures thereunder
has commenced, as determined by the Planning Board. Permanent structures
may include, but not be limited to, CWT tower pads and maintenance
buildings. If the entire CWEF project is not completed within three
years of the date of approval, the approval lapses and a new application
must be made and approved. There will be no additional fee for application
review, provided the application is unchanged. The Board may grant
more than one extension only if there is pending litigation challenging
the approval of the CWEF.
[Amended 6-15-2022]
In addition to the requirements of §
140-8, Enforcement; violations and penalties, of Chapter
140, Site Plan Review, the following requirements apply to a CWEF.
A. Inquiries and complaints.
(1) CWEF public inquiries and/or complaints shall be made as follows:
(a) By submitting a signed complaint with complaint details and complainant
contact information by mail or email; or
(b) By completing a complaint at the Town office during normal office
hours;
(2) Complaints involving CWEF sound, vibrations or other possible disturbances
related to sound pressure require a written description of the event(s),
to include, date, time and subjective/objective intensity.
B. Receipt of CWEF public inquiries and/or complaint. Upon a receipt
of a public inquiry and/or complaint, the Town shall:
(1) Notify the inquiry and/or complainant that a public inquiry and/or
complaint have been received.
(2) Forward within three business days by email and U.S. mail or other
acceptable means, to the CWEF owner/operator's contact person
that is responsible to respond to public inquiries and/or complaints,
the written complaint.
(3) Place in the appropriate file for public inspection the public inquiry/complaint.
C. Responsibility of the CWEF owner/operator. Within 72 hours of receipt
of the complaint from the Town, the owner/operator's contact
person that is responsible to respond to public inquiries and/or complaints
shall provide a response back to the Town and the person filing public
inquiry and/or complaint in accordance with the approved public inquiry/complaint
response protocol.
D. Responsibility of the Town.
(1) The Town shall attach to the appropriate public inquiry/complaint
the response of the owner/operator.
(2) Within one week of the receipt by the Town of the response from the
owner/operator, the Town shall contact the person that made the inquiry
and/or complaint to assess if he/she is satisfied with the response
based on the approved public inquiry/complaint response protocol,
Town ordinances and conditions of CWEF approval.
[Amended 6-12-2024 ATM
by Art. 12]
(3) The Town within one week shall forward to the owner/operator's contact person, that is responsible to respond to public inquiries and/or complaints, the results of the assessment as identified in Subsection
D(2) above.
(4) If the Town, within 14 days of the actions provided in Subsections
C and
D(2), determines that the complaint is without merit, it will be dismissed, and the Town will inform the complainant and the owner/operator.
(5) The Town may convene a meeting with the Town, the owner/operator, and person filing the inquiry and/or complaint to attempt to reach a resolution if such actions as identified in Subsections
C and
D(1) through
(3) above have not resolved the complaint. If such a meeting is convened, it shall be held within 45 days of the receipt of the original public inquiry/complaint by the Town.
E. Enforcement. In addition to the provisions set forth above, when
the CEO finds that provisions of this article are being violated,
he/she shall notify, in writing, by certified mail, return receipt
requested, the person responsible for such violation, indicating the
nature of the violation and ordering the action necessary to correct
it. The Select Board may bring an action in the Superior Court or
District Court to enjoin violators of this article, for collection
of penalties, for injunctive relief, and for such other relief as
may be provided in accordance with 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4452.
Each day that a violation continues shall be considered a separate
violation.
F. Records of complaints. The Town shall maintain a permanent record
of all complaints, CEO investigations, reports by consultants and
outcomes.
[Added 6-15-2022]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A-WEIGHTED SOUND LEVEL (dBA)
One measure of the overall sound level. This measure is designed
to reflect the response of the human ear, which does not respond equally
to all frequencies. Lower frequency sounds are given less weight than
those in the mid-range of human perception. The resulting measure
is said to be "A-weighted" and the units are dBA.
ABANDONED
The condition of a CWEF that fails to produce electricity
to the grid for a period of 12 months.
APPLICANT
This term is interchangeable with the term "owner/operator"
during any CWEF application process. See definition of "owner/operator."
[Amended 6-12-2024 ATM
by Art. 12]
CEO
The Town of Bethel Code Enforcement Officer.
COMMERCIAL WIND ENERGY FACILITY (CWEF)
A.
A wind energy installation that meet any of the following criteria:
(1)
Consists of one or more commercial wind turbines (CWTs) with
a combined tower and blade height of more than 150 feet from the grade
to blade tip at its highest point;
(2)
Has a nameplate capacity of more than 100 kilowatts per CWT;
(3)
Requires a site location of development permit from the Maine
Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to 35-A M.R.S.A. § 3456,
as may be amended from time to time;
(4)
The purpose of which facility is to generate electricity using
ambient wind as a source of motive power in order to primarily supply
electricity to off-site customers.
B.
CWEFs include, without limitation, associated installations,
structures and facilities such as meteorological towers, substations
and any other accessory structures, cables/wires, generator leads
lines, fences, lighting systems, access roads, parking lots, turnout
locations, temporary staging areas, together with maintenance and
all power collection and transmission systems, and any areas in which
the soil is in any way disturbed.
COMMERCIAL WIND TURBINE (CWT)
An energy system that converts wind energy into electricity
and which meets the height, nameplate capacity and other criteria
cited in the definition of a "CWEF," above.
DECIBEL (dB)
The practical unit of measurement for sound pressure level;
the number of decibels of a measured sound is equal to 20 times the
logarithm to the base 10 of the ratio of the sound pressure of the
measured sound to the sound pressure of a standard sound (20 micro
pascals); abbreviated "dB."
DECOMMISSIONING
The process of removing the CWEF and restoring the site to
the standards described in the applicant's original Maine DEP
application and land use permit or to the state's standards in
effect at the time of decommissioning, whichever are more restrictive
to the owner/operator.
HEIGHT
The total distance measured from the grade of the property
at its base to the highest point of a CWEF, tower, turbine, or related
facility. In the case of a CWT, this includes the length of the blade
at its highest possible point.
INFRASOUND
Sound-like waves having a frequency below the audible range,
that is, below 20 hertz.
LAND SURVEY
The practice of determining the boundaries, area, location
and elevation of land, features and structures on the earth's
surface by means of measuring angles and distances, using the techniques
of geometry and trigonometry, by a Maine professional licensed land
surveyor (MPLS).
LIBERALLY CONSTRUED
Legal language that instructs a court to interpret this article
broadly so that the intent and purposes of this article will be achieved.
METEOROLOGICAL TOWER (MET TOWER)
A structure used for the measurement of wind force, direction,
speed, and any other meteorological data, constructed as a tower to
mount instruments at one or more heights above grade for the purpose
of collecting such data.
MITIGATION WAIVER
A legally enforceable, written agreement between the applicant
and a nonparticipating landowner in the Town of Bethel for which the
landowner waives certain protections afforded in this article. Such
a waiver cannot infringe on the protections afforded by this article
to other neighboring nonparticipating properties.
NAMEPLATE CAPACITY
The electrical power rating of an individual CWT as certified
by the manufacturer and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and
normally expressed in watts, kilowatts (kW) (1,000 watts) or megawatts
(MW) (1,000,000 watts).
OWNER/OPERATOR
The person(s) or entity(ies) with legal ownership or control
of the property on which the CWEF is located or proposed to be located,
including successors and assigns, that either had, has or is attempting
to obtain permission from the Town of Bethel to build, operate on
a daily basis, expand, decrease, change the use of, or decommission
a CWEF. An "owner/operator" is the entity which has full legal authority
to represent and bind itself to fulfill all of the provisions of this
article.
PARTICIPATING PARCEL
A parcel of real estate that is not a project parcel, but
whose owner has signed a mitigation waiver with the applicant/owner/operator.
PHASED PROJECT PLAN
Dividing the entire CWEF project into phases for purposes
of management and oversight by the Town, including establishing escrow
accounts. The plan shall include the following phases, at a minimum:
MET tower application, MET tower reclamation, construction application,
construction, operation, and decommissioning. The Select Board or
Planning Board may subdivide any of the major phases into specific
shorter phases or create additional management phases, as either board
deems necessary.
PROJECT BOUNDARY
The boundaries of the CWEF as shown on the construction site
plan.
PROJECT PARCEL
Any CWEF property covered in the current application process
in which the developer has an ownership interest either in whole or
in part, including leases, easements or rights-of-way.
SCENIC OR SPECIAL RESOURCE
A scenic resource of state or national significance, as defined
in 35-A M.R.S.A. § 3451(9), as may be amended from time
to time; any site registered in the National Register of Historic
Places; or a scenic or special resource of local significance identified
as such in the Bethel Comprehensive Plan of 2003, amended in 2007.
[Amended 6-12-2024 ATM
by Art. 12]
SETBACK
The minimal distance required from the outer edge of each
CWT tower where it is attached to its concrete foundation to the closest
point on any property line of any nonparticipating parcel, as measured
on a horizontal basis.
SHADOW FLICKER
Alternating changes in light intensity caused by the movement
of wind turbine blades casting shadows on the ground or a stationary
object.
STATE
The State of Maine is referred to in this article as the
"state."
TOWN OF BETHEL
For the purpose of this article, the Town of Bethel shall
herein be referred to as the "Town." In the permitting sections of
this article, the Town is represented by the Planning Board. In oversight
and enforcement sections, the Town is represented by the Select Board
and the CEO.
[Amended 6-12-2024 ATM
by Art. 12]