Unity voters overwhelmingly approve wind ordinance

Wind turbines won't come easily to Unity

BY COLIN HICKEY, Correspondent

UNITY -- Putting up a large commercial wind turbine in Unity will not be a simple matter.

Voters made sure of that Saturday at their annual Town Meeting when they overwhelming approved a 39-page ordinance that one of the document's crafters described as "fairly restrictive."

"We err on the side of the protecting the landowner," said resident John Piotti, chairman of the town's Comprehensive Plan Committee. "That is how we designed the ordinance."

Among the restrictions is a requirement that commercial wind turbine developers get approval of all landowners within a 1-mile radius of the project.

The ordinance describes commercial wind turbines as having towers more than 150 feet high and a generating capacity of more than 100 kilowatts.

Piotti stressed to residents at the meeting, held at Unity Elementary School, that the ordinance does not apply to the smaller wind turbines a homeowner might install for personal energy needs.

Such turbines, Piotti told voters, are addressed in a proposed amended version of the town's Land Use Ordinance. He described the requirements as minor, all of them listed on one page.

"Our goal here," he said, "was to make it relatively easy for a landowner who wishes to put up a wind turbine to do so, while protecting the rights of other landowners."

Voters, again overwhelmingly, approved the changes to the land-use ordinance, including the ones applying to small wind turbines.

They set the stage for Saturday's ordinance and land-use amendment last summer at a special town meeting when they approved a moratorium on wind power development for six months.

They later extended that moratorium for an additional six months, Piotti said.

Piotti said Unity had no ordinance governing wind turbine development before Saturday's meeting. He said that was the motivation behind establishing the moratorium and moving forward on an effort to create rules for such projects.

"It has been a very active process," he said of the work to write the ordinance. "This is very complicated stuff."

Voters approved the 35-article warrant with only one amendment, adding $7,000 to the Fire Department funding request to cover the cost of upgrading the department's self-contained breathing apparatus units.

Firefighters had been using the existing units for 21 years, a town fire official said.

Even with the $7,000 increase to the proposed town budget, the spending plan voters approved is down about $57,000 from a year ago, falling from about $900,000 to about $843,000.

 http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/wind-turbines-wont-come-easily-t...

Unity can prepare for wind turbines

BY COLIN HICKEY, Correspondent

UNITY -- No wind turbines dot the horizon in this community, but voters today can ensure the town will be prepared for any proposal to erect them.

Selectmen James Kenney said residents who gather for town meeting at 10 a.m. at Unity Elementary School will have the opportunity to vote on a proposed ordinance that he said is written with the safety and health of townspeople in mind.

"It is an ordinance that is addressing the issues," he said. "We have no one asking to put up a commercial wind turbine that we know of, but we are putting up an ordinance beforehand."

Kenney said the proposal is based on town ordinances now in place in Dixmont and Montville.

He said the document classifies wind turbines into four categories, ranging from small models for private use to ones that tower 300 feet or more that can generate more than a megawatt of energy.

Kenney said the requirements for the smaller private wind turbines are limited to a page, but those wishing to construct commercial models would have 39 to 40 pages of stipulations to address.

A person or company wishing to install a wind turbine in the largest category, for example, would have to notify all landowners within a two-mile radius of the plan and get the approval of all landowners within a one-mile radius, Kenney said.

He said the proposed budget is down $64,000 from the one approved last year, a decrease from $900,000 to $836,000.

And that's the total budget. Kenney said the amount of money the town proposes to raise through direct taxation is down $70,000, falling from $453,000 to $383,000.

He said the decrease in large part is the result of having completed the town's latest property appraisal project.

"We are somewhat fiscally conservative and responsible," he said. "We didn't try to find things to spend (money) on in other words."

Unity

Town meeting: 10 a.m. Saturday at Unity Elementary School

Registered voters: About 800

Voters at 2010 Town Meeting: About 75

Last year's budget: $900,000

Proposed budget: $836,000 if passed as proposed

Percent change: 7.1 percent decrease

current mill rate: $14 per $1,000 property value

http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/unity-can-prepare-for-wind-turbi...

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