Backyard turbines advance
Apr 30 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Cyndy Cole The Arizona Daily
Sun, Flagstaff
A Coconino County commission has unanimously backed wind towers made in
Flagstaff, sweeping aside concerns they would be unsightly or bothersome to
neighbors.
Soon, residents of Doney Park and other county residential areas might be
able to legally install wind towers from Southwest Windpower, which
currently exceed county height limits by a few feet.
The Board of Supervisors must ratify the planning commission's
recommendation.
A handful of homeowners, including those living off the electric utility
grid, have sought ways around these restrictions or just installed them
without seeking permission.
Southwest Windpower is the world's largest producer of small-scale wind
turbines, exporting them to more than 88 countries and selling 13,000 last
year, co-founder Andy Kruse said.
But Southwest's shortest models are designed to stand at least 41.6 feet
high, several feet taller than the current limit.
"This is the kind of business Flagstaff needs and wants and this is the kind
of power we should be putting in," said Coconino County Planning and Zoning
Commission Chairwoman Maggie Sacher, of Marble Canyon, following the vote.
She asked about getting one for herself, to back up power that sometimes
fails.
The city of Flagstaff has similar height limits that prevent the
installation of the Southwest Windpower models.
Commissioners asked about the sound produced from the turbines, room
required and audio impact to neighbors before approving the change.
They approved setbacks from the property line and limiting the turbines to
lots of one acre and larger, in most cases.
The turbines produce about as much sound as a refrigerator.
Kruse said his models are designed to stop turning when winds reach more
than 80 mph, and they are soon to be monitored remotely via Internet.
Purchase and installation costs of $12,000 could soon be halved by rebates
from Arizona Public Service, he said.
At the direction of the supervisors, Coconino County planners are looking to
rewrite codes to encourage adoption and use of more renewable energy, and
permit more sustainability in what's built, bought and erected countywide.
A Doney Park couple building a home and seeking to make their carbon
footprint as small as possible is mainly responsible for these changes.
William and Janeen Scharf live next to power poles taller than the wind
turbine they want to install. Traffic from Highway 89, which borders their
property, would likely be louder than the turbine.
The couple first attempted to install a wind turbine last June, and was
rejected.
The Coconino County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to take up their
request in June. |