(a) Design Safety Certification.
(1) WECS(s) shall conform to applicable industry standards, including those of the American National Standards Institute (“ANSI”). Applicants shall submit certificates of design compliance that equipment manufacturers have obtained from Underwriters Laboratories (“UL”), Det Norske Veritas (“DNV”), Germanischer Lloyd Wind Energie (“GL”), or an equivalent third party. The provision of a design compliance certificate from any one of ANSI, UL, DNV or GL will satisfy this requirement.
(2) Following the granting of siting approval(s) under this text, a licensed Ohio professional engineer shall certify, as part of the building permit application, that the foundation and tower design of the WECS is within accepted professional standards, given local soil and climate conditions; it being understood that an applicant may submit different building permit applications hereunder in keeping with the project flexibility based on equipment type to be used , it being further understood that any and all such permit applications shall still be certified by a licensed Ohio professional engineer as contemplated hereunder.
(b) Controls and Brakes. All WECS shall be equipped with a redundant braking system. This includes both aerodynamic overspeed controls (including variable pitch, tip, and other similar systems) and mechanical brakes. Mechanical brakes shall be operated in a failsafe mode. Stall regulations shall not be considered a sufficient braking system for overspeed protection.
(c) Electrical Components. All electrical components of the WECS shall conform to applicable local, State, and national codes, and relevant national and international standards (e.g. ANSI, UL and International Electrical Commission).
(d) Color. Towers and blades shall be painted white or gray, or other non-reflective, unobtrusive color, subject to approval.
(e) Compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration. The applicant for the WECS shall comply with all applicable FAA requirements.
(f) Warnings.
(1) A reasonably visible warning sign concerning voltage must be placed at the base of all pad-mounted transformers and substations;
(2) Visible, reflective, colored objects, such as flags, reflectors, or tape shall be placed on the anchor points of guy wires and along the guy wires up to a total of 15 feet from the ground;
(3) A sign or posting no more than four square feet in area displaying a toll-free telephone number, answered by a person 24 hours per day, seven days a week, for emergency calls and informational inquiries shall be posted at the entrance to the project and at the erected wind turbine generators. No turbine generator tower or anemometer tower or site shall include any advertising signage, but logos of the owner or operator or of the wind turbine generator manufacturer shall not be considered “advertising” for the purpose of the text. A copy of the position and size of the logo shall be included with the conditional use application.
(g) Climb Prevention. All WECS towers must be not climbable by designs for the first 12 feet or protected by anti-climbing devices. For the purpose of this text, a free-standing tubular tower which shall have a solid metal entry door at the base with a door handle which is securable against unauthorized entry by a heavy duty padlock, combination lock or any other such device, shall be presumed to be not climbable by design. Other examples of anti-climbing devices include but shall not be limited to safeguards such as fences with locking portals at least six feet high or 12 feet vertically from the base of any lattice WECS tower.
(h) Setbacks. The Village also finds the setback of 750 feet set forth in Ohio R.C. 4906.20 for the siting of a large wind turbine system is inadequate to protect the health and welfare of the residents of the Village. The Village is requiring a setback of 2,640 feet from any occupied residence or business.
(1) The distance for the above setback shall be measured from the point of the primary structure foundation closest to the WECS tower to the center of the WECS tower foundation. In no case shall a WECS tower be located closer to a primary structure than 1.1 times the WECS tower height;
(2) All WECS towers shall be set back a distance of at least 1.1 times the WECS tower height from any public roads, third party transmission lines, and communication towers;
(3) A waiver may be granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals if the primary land owners and all affected adjacent property owners are in mutual agreement. Any waiver of a setback requirement shall run with the land and be recorded as part of the chain of title in the deed of the subject property. All costs involved in creating the aforementioned waiver are to be incurred by all affected property owners. This mutual agreement shall be filed with the Zoning Officer/Village Administrator.
(i) Compliance with Additional Regulations. Nothing in this text is intended to preempt other applicable State and Federal laws and regulations.
(j) Use of Public Streets. An applicant, owner or operator proposing to use any street(s) in the Village for the purpose of transporting WECS or substation parts must be granted permission by the Village Administrator/Zoning Officer.
(k) Minimum Rotor or Wind Vane Clearance. The lowest point of the arc created by the rotating wind vanes or blades on a wind turbine generator shall be no less than 15 feet, measured from the highest point of the terrain within one blade radius from the base of the tower.
(l) Lighting. It is the stated intention of this text to cede jurisdiction over all matters relating to aviation obstruction hazard lighting to the then-existing rules and regulations of the FAA at the time the project is constructed and operating. Accordingly, there shall not be strobe lighting, intermittent white lighting or other lighting fixtures affixed to the wind turbine generators, unless expressly required by the FAA, and if so required, the owner or operator shall affix only those lighting fixtures required by the FAA. All tower lighting required by the FAA shall be mounted in strict adherence to the then- existing FAA regulations for such lighting and no other discretion or burden as to lighting of any kind affixed to the wind turbine generators shall be placed on the owner or operator of the project by means of this text.
(m) The Village will set a maximum noise level at 35 dB(A) measured at the property line of adjoining parcels.
(n) Liability Insurance. The owner or operator of the WECS(s) shall maintain a current general liability policy covering bodily injury and property damage with limits of at least ten million dollars ($10,000,000) per occurrence and ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in the aggregate.
(Ord. 1636. Passed 4-19-10.)