LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Turbine rules are too much to tackle in one meeting; Huron County planners discuss sound levels, flicker 

Credit:  By Chris Aldridge, Tribune Staff Writer | Huron Daily Tribune | June 26, 2015 | www.michigansthumb.com ~~

BAD AXE – Clark Brock, the county planning commission chairman, came to a realization Wednesday.

“We are not going to get through this document tonight,” he said, after planners spent more than two hours forging through proposed new rules governing wind turbines.

He was right.

For more than 18 months, a committee worked to overhaul the county’s 2010 wind energy ordinance. On Wednesday, planners gave their first full review of the draft.

They made it halfway through the 22-page document.

What first came into question was the tradeoff of having an ordinance easily understandable to the public, or one with complex language and methodology that could hold up in court. Though mostly straightforward, some changes make vague references while other areas are thick with detail and terminology, as advised by consultants and the county’s attorney.

“This is the Reader’s Digest version,” Member Dave Peruski said.

That said, planners started turning the pages, making general comments and little change.

They agreed developers should document work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its voluntary wind energy guidelines. “Shoreline protection” would restrict turbines from being closer than three miles to the shores of Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay.

“This language right here would guarantee they’re working with Fish and Wildlife,” Jeff Smith, the county’s building and zoning director, said.

The three-mile barrier drew opposition from one member, Joel Weber, who said there should be some restriction but not three miles. Others passed over the section quietly without comment.

Next came turbine setbacks from inhabited houses. Planners agreed to an increase of 1,000 feet in the 2010 ordinance to 1,320 feet for those participating in a wind project. In a split straw vote, they agreed to up the previous minimum from 1,320 feet to 1,640 feet for those not participating.

Planners did not oppose increasing setbacks from public roads – the new rule would bump it from 400 to 500 feet – or capping turbine height at 499 feet.

Smooth sailing. Then the noise came.

Almost half of the 22-page draft details a difficult and time-consuming prospect – setting rules for sound from wind turbines. A three-column chart showing four entries for decibel limits, for example, found planners struggling to understand and come to agreement.

Brock, who was on the committee that drafted ordinance revisions, said there were many times when committee work became confusing. A sound consultant from Epsilon Associates Inc. – which works with Florida-based developer NextEra Energy – chimed in along with other consultants, at Brock’s request, with expertise.

“ … And I’m not sure that people sitting here can make me completely understand it either,” he said.

Smith said the committee put lower sound regulations than what were recommended by sound consulting firm Acoustics By Design, which conducted night and daytime testing of turbines.

To illustrate a point, he brought a sound level meter to the meeting. With the hum of a computer and air conditioning in the room, and none of the 25 to 30 people talking, he said it read 50 decibels – the limit turbines must meet from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. as heard at participating parcels.

“I do know that losing sleep is a problem,” Peruski said of noise complaints from residents in his district, which, as a county commissioner, includes the village of Ubly, Bingham, Grant, Paris, Sheridan and Sherman townships.

Planners made minor changes after making it through only one of 10 pages added for sound regulations before deciding to call it quits.

However, they disagreed on a visual aspect.

Rules for shadow flicker – a phenomenon caused by turbine blades slicing sun rays to create shadows on walls, homes and land at specific times of day – were not included in the 2010 ordinance. A new limit would restrict flicker to 30 hours per year for those who participate in a wind project, and 10 hours for those not participating.

Member Joel Weber asked who would monitor shadow flicker.

“When a government body starts regulating shadows … we’re talking about a shadow,” Weber said, citing, as a similar example, shadows from a flag waving in the wind becoming a bother to someone.

Weber disagreed with stricter rules on shadow flicker, which he wrote off as simply preventing someone from “enjoying their coffee in the morning.”

Member Carl Duda was more decisive.

“They ain’t got a contract. They shouldn’t have to deal with shadow flicker,” Duda said.

Developers have turned turbines off temporarily when shadow flicker occurs. It solves the problem most times, according to Smith, who said he’s received only a couple formal complaints from residents.

Planners took a straw vote to either keep shadow flicker limits at 10 hours for those not participating, up it to 30 hours or not allow any shadow flicker. The majority agreed to change it to 30 hours.

More review is scheduled during a special meeting 7 p.m. Thursday, July 16. Planners will need to set a public hearing before the revised wind ordinance can move forward to county commissioners, who will then approve the changes or send them back to planners.

Source:  By Chris Aldridge, Tribune Staff Writer | Huron Daily Tribune | June 26, 2015 | www.michigansthumb.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon