(A) Commercial grade wind energy system shall be permitted in Agricultural Residential Districts, Commercial Districts, and Industrial Districts by special land use permit.
(B) (1) A commercial grade wind energy system shall be contained in the setbacks of the district in which it is located and all anchoring devices shall be located so as not to infringe on the setback requirements of the district.
(2) The distance between a commercial grade wind energy system and the property lines of adjacent non-leased properties, including public rights-of-way, shall be at least the height of the wind energy system tower, including the top of the blade in its vertical position. Where property is leased on both sides of public right-of-way, a wind energy system may be placed no closer than one rotor radius from the closest edge of the right-of-way. Leased property can include more than one piece of property and the requirement shall apply to the combined properties.
(3) SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) or meteorological (MET) towers shall also comply with the property setback requirement. The setback shall be at least the height of the SCADA or MET tower. An operations and maintenance office building, a substation, or ancillary equipment shall comply with any property setback requirement that may be applicable to that type of building or equipment. Overhead transmission lines and power poles shall comply with the setback requirements applicable to public utilities.
(C) The maximum height of any commercial grade wind energy systems shall be 300 feet from the tip of the blade at its highest point.
(D) The tip of the blade for a commercial wind energy system shall come no closer to the ground than 35 feet.
(E) On site use wind energy systems shall not exceed 55 Db(A) at the property line closest to the wind energy system. This sound pressure level may be exceeded during short-term events such as utility outages and/or severe wind storms. If the ambient sound pressure level exceeds 55 Db(A), the standard shall be ambient Db(A) plus five Db(A).
(Ord. passed 5-13-2009)