By STEVE PRISAMENT
Staff Writer

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP – The land management ordinance here was amended Tuesday, April 23 to allow residents to install devices to take advantage of wind and solar energy.

Council unanimously gave final approval to a “living document” that sets specifications for windmills and solar panels in residential areas.

“This will be amended,” Mayor Tom Bassford said. “It’s not a perfect ordinance and the technology is always changing. But it’s a start, and it will be kept up-to-date.”

Township planner Tiffany Cuviello said the action on April 22 would serve as a reminder to keep references to renewable energy technology current.

“Apropos to it being passed on Earth Day, we can revisit the ordinance every year on Earth Day,” Cuviello said.

Before the changes were adopted, local regulations restricted the use of the technology to farms.

“Our ordinance allows capturing wind power only on farms,” she said before the ordinance amendment was passed. “Solar panels have to be on roofs. There is no provision for stand-alone units.”

The amended Chapter 233 of the land management code makes wind energy and solar energy systems “a permitted accessory use” in all districts.

“The purpose of the ordinance is to recognize and advance alternative energy sources,” Cuviello said. “Currently the township ordinance does not provide any regulations guiding the appropriate development and placement of small wind or solar energy systems.”

The governing body accepted assumptions in the ordinance that wind and solar energy are abundant, renewable and non-polluting energy resources; that converting them to electricity will reduce our dependence on nonrenewable energy resources; that using them will enhance the reliability and quality of the power grid, reduce peak power demands and diversify the state’s energy supply portfolio, and make the electricity market more competitive by promoting customer choice.

The ordinance now includes some new definitions.

For example, a small wind energy system has “a nameplate capacity of 100 kilowatts or less.” A solar energy system converts energy from the sun into usable electrical energy, heats water, or produces hot air or a similar function through the use of solar panels.

A wind energy system, by township ordinance, “means a wind turbine and all associated equipment including any base, blade, foundation, nacelle, rotor, tower, transformer, vane, wire, inverter, batteries or other component necessary to fully utilize the wind generator.”

Cuviello said a lot of the language in the ordinance was borrowed from similar ordinances already in effect elsewhere.

“It’s a combination of several ordinances modified to meet the needs of Galloway Township,” she said. “We don’t want to create a nuisance. We have to be concerned with the impact on other property owners.”

The ordinance requires all applications for wind energy systems to go before the Development Review Committee for approval. The Development Review Committee is a subcommittee of the Planning Board, Cuviello said.

Requirements for installing a small wind energy system include a minimum lot size of 1 acre. The setback from all property lines must be equal to the height of the structure including the blades at their highest point. Wind turbines are banned in front yards.

On lots of 1 to 3 acres, the height of a wind turbine is limited to 80 feet. On lots larger than 3 acres, the height limit is 150 feet. In non-residential zones, the height limit is always 150 feet. All moving parts must be at least 10 feet from the ground.
Only one wind turbine is allowed on a property, and rooftop installations are not allowed. Ground-mounted electrical and control equipment must be labeled and secured.

On residential properties, wind turbines must have capacities of 10 or fewer kilowatts, and the turbine’s sound is limited to 55 decibels and 50 decibels to the closest occupied structure. A 65-decibel limit is in force in non-residential zones.

Turbines must have an automatic brake or other device to prevent over-speeding from exerting pressure on the tower structure.

Wind systems are not to be artificially lighted unless required by the Federal Aviation Administration or other authority.

Solar panels, according to the ordinance, are permitted as a rooftop installation in any zoning district, but must not extend more than 8 inches from the rooftop.

Ground arrays must be set back at least 20 feet from all property lines in residential zones. Any glare must be directed away from an adjoining property. Maximum height is 15 feet.

Wind or solar systems shall not be used for advertising except for identification of the manufacturer or operator of the systems.

“Materials, colors, textures, screening and landscaping” must blend the facility into the “natural setting and existing environment.”

Jim Brandt, a third-generation local farmer who owns and operates the township’s only windmill on his Moss Mill Road property, spoke against some of the restrictions in the ordinance.

He said the height limit setback to the property line was unnecessary.

“These turbines are built to withstand 120-mile-per-hour winds,” he said. “That’s more than most buildings. You’re going to have windows smashing in and roofs blowing off before a wind turbine falls.”

Brandt said he would be glad to offer his expertise. Cuviello quickly passed him a business card.

“You say you have limited information on this and that,” Brandt said. “I’m a farmer. I had all winter off to look into this.”
He said the ban on front-yard windmills is humorous.

“My windmill looms high on the horizon,” Brandt said. “It’s going to be pretty visible regardless of where you put it.”
Brandt also raised some environmental concerns.

“I don’t want to tear down 50 acres of woods to meet the guidelines,” he said. “I also don’t want an ordinance that says you can have one – but not in my backyard.”

Councilwoman Meg Worthington said she hoped Brandt would be in touch with Cuviello.

“We don’t want the only person in Galloway Township who has a windmill to not like our ordinance,” she said.

Another resident, Ed Gore, a vice president of Calvi Electric, spoke out against allowing windmills in residential areas.

“I see them as hurting the value of my property,” he said. “I don’t want my township to look like an industrial park.”

Councilman Al DeSimone said he favors the ordinance as a starting point.

“We understand the why,” he said. “And as time goes by, we’ll work out the where and how.”

DeSimone questioned the danger windmills might pose to flying birds.

“The bird kill is very low,” said Planning Board Chairman Ken Sooy. “They learn very quickly to fly around it. Apparently it only gets rid of your dumb birds.”

To comment on this story
email steve.prisament
@catamaranmedia.com