Eaton Town City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VC
Commercial Wind Energy Facilities
[Added 10-13-2011 by L.L. No. 1-2011]
§ 120-23.12 Title.
The provisions of this article shall be referred to as the "Commercial Wind Energy Facilities Regulations of the Town of Eaton."
§ 120-23.13 Purpose.
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.
§ 120-23.14 Special permit requirements.
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.
§ 120-23.15 Regulations.
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.
§ 120-23.16 Additional application requirements.
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.
§ 120-23.17 Abandonment.
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.