In this regulation:
(a) “Clear Fall Zone” means an area surrounding the wind turbine unit into which the turbine, tower and/or turbine components might fall due to inclement weather, poor maintenance, faulty construction methods, or any other condition causing turbine failure. The area shall remain confined within the property lines of the primary parcel where the turbine is located. The purpose of the zone being that, if the turbine should fall or otherwise become damaged, the falling structure will be confined to the primary parcel, will not fall onto dwellings or accessory buildings, and will not intrude onto a neighboring property.
(b) “Megawatt” means a unit of power equal to one million watts.
(c) “Met tower” means a tower, including any anchor, base, base plate, boom, cable, electrical or electronic equipment, guy wire, hardware, indicator, instrument, telemetry device, vane, or wiring, that is used to collect or transmit meteorological data, including wind speed and wind flow information, in order to monitor or characterize wind resources at or near a small wind energy project.
(d) “Equipment owner” or “owner” means the person or entity that owns a small wind energy project or met tower.
(d-1) “Participating landowner” means the owner of the property on which a small wind energy project is built.
(d-2) “Non-participating landowner” means an owner of property on which a small wind energy project is not being built.
(e) “Rotor diameter” means the cross sectional dimension of the circle swept by the rotating blades.
(f) “Small wind energy project” means a wind energy project that has a capacity of more than 2 kilowatts and less than 5 megawatts, including the wind turbine generator or anemometer or any parts thereof and is primarily used to generate energy for use on the property where it is located. If the wind energy project is affixed to a primary or accessory structure and not a tower then the project developer must provide definitive evidence that the existing structure has adequate capacity to support that additional weight, overturning moments and cyclic loading due to operating resonance generated by the wind turbine. Approval by a licensed professional engineer is required for any building integrated projects over 5kW.
(g) “Total height” means the vertical distance from ground level to the tip of a wind generator blade when the tip is at its highest point.
(h) “Tower” means either the freestanding or monopole structure that supports a wind generator or the freestanding or monopole structure that is used as a met tower.
(i) “Zoning Inspector” means the Village of Ada Zoning Inspector.
(j) “Wind energy project” means equipment that converts and then stores or transfers energy from the wind into usable forms of energy (as defined by Ohio R.C. 1551.20) and includes any base, blade, foundation, generator, nacelle, rotor, tower, transformer, turbine, vane, wire, or other component used in the project.
(k) “Wind generator” means the mechanical and electrical conversion components mounted at the top of a tower in a wind energy project.
(Ord. 2009-17. Passed 1-19-10.)