By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
    As a green lifestyle becomes a priority for more and more people, officials in Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough are reviewing town ordinances to create a compromise between aesthetics and alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power.
    In Scarborough, much of the talk of renewable energy sources has been focused on solar panels and in particular a free standing structure consisting of 10 panels in the town’s Grondin Pond neighborhood.
    In Cape Elizabeth, discussions about alternative energy sources have largely been focused on wind turbines, however, at the direction of the town council, the planning board is working to craft language in the town’s ordinances to allow for wind turbines, solar panels and other devices such as tidal and outdoor wood boilers. The planning board is to submit a final report with recommendations by January 2, 2008. At the same time, a Cape Elizabeth Alternative Energy Committee will explore opportunities to bring alternative energy sources to municipal and school buildings and vehicles
    During a July 18 Scarborough Town Council meeting, residents of Grondin Pond and the surrounding neighborhoods expressed their distaste with the panels erected by Laurence Gardner and his wife, Alison Noiles.
    Gardner has said he and his wife decided if they were going to use solar power, they wanted to be able to run their entire household of 12 by that method. Neighbors took offense to the structures, claiming they were better suited for a commercial operation and questioned why abutters were not notified of the project before the five ten-foot tall poles were installed.
    Scarborough Code Enforcement Officer Dave Grysk said when he is interpreting the ordinance, he determines whether the structure is something that is typically seen in the town. He said wind turbines are currently not a permitted use.   
    “They can have the panels there because it’s something that’s typically been seen as the town of Scarborough as an accessory structure,” he said.
    As a permitted use that met height and setback requirements, Grysk said there was no requirement to notify abutters.     
    On August 29, five residents appeared before Scarborough’s ordinance committee to encourage the town to develop standards for dealing with residents’ requests for alternative energy technology.
    Mike Scammon said he supports solar electric technology and has tracking solar panels at his home.
    “The problem you have with PVs (photovoltaic systems) is you just can’t screen them,” he said. “They have to be to the open, you can’t plant trees around them. The reason why PV tracking devices are used is they’re about 30 percent more efficient than fixed roof mounts.”
    Scammon said he did not advocate putting a lot of restrictions on alternative energy, however, he questioned the size of the Grondin Pond structures.
    Ordinance Chair Sylvia Most echoed Scammon’s concerns about too many restrictions.
    “I’m not interested in creating an environment in town where we are discouraging alternative energies,” she said. “It’s not the day and age to be preventing people from using alternative energy sources. That said, we have zoning regulations to create some kind of known environment where people can have some idea what can be done on the property.”
    Town Planner Dan Bacon said solar panels serving residential households are generally considered accessory uses.
     During a workshop Tuesday night, members of the Cape Elizabeth Planning Board were skeptical that a lot of residents would want wind turbines or be able to afford the structures. However, they wanted the ordinance language to allow for emerging technologies. The board largely supported designating wind turbines as an accessory use with performance standards such as noise, appearance, setback requirements and safety. One issue that remains to be determined is whether or not the wind turbines could be constructed on an empty lot.
     Last week, Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Smith said he had received two requests from residents interested in wind turbines, in particular the Skystream 3.7 model.
    According to Skys
treamenergy.com, the product is the first “all-inclusive wind generator (with controls and inverter built in) designed to provide quiet, clean electricity in very low winds.”
    The tower ranges in height between 34 and 70 feet, depending on the site and the rotor measures 12 feet. The Web site recommends a site be unobstructed and larger than half an acre and receive at least 10 miles per hour average wind speed. It also recommends people check to make sure local zoning allows the structure and the local utility company has an interconnectivity agreement.
    While the planning board was skeptical that allowing wind turbines would lead to wind farms in town, some said with the current technology, one wind turbine would not provide much economic incentive for residents. James Huebener estimated the wind turbines cost to be between $30,000 and $50,000.
    According to “A Small Wind Electric Systems Guide,” published by the U.S. Department of Energy, however, depending on size, local zoning, permitting and interconnection costs, a residential wind turbine can cost between $3,000 and $50,000.
    Pat Coon, of Energyworks LLC, a firm that designs, installs and services renewable energy systems, said for most of his clients, the decision to pursue a wind  turbine or another form of renewable energy is usually less about cost  and more about a way of further reducing their household’s carbon footprint.
    Coon said technology such as the Skystream 3.7 has made it possible for residences and small businesses to consider wind power.
    “In the past there wasn’t really a good option for residential scale, small wind and the reason was there wasn’t a unit that had integrated an inverter with a wind turbine,” he said.
    With offices in Liberty and Portland, Maine, Coon said as he works with Cape Elizabeth and other towns, he is learning that each municipality approaches the issue differently.
    “Up in northern Maine, if there’s not a written ordinance opposing something you can do it, but in Cape Elizabeth and a bunch of towns in southern Maine, if there isn’t anything in the ordinance, you can’t do it,” he said. “Every town in southern Maine has its own rules that you’ve got to follow and we’ve had a number of towns that just shut us down because they don’t have the ordinance in place and essentially they’re preventing their citizens from pursuing environmentally friendly energy.”  
    Coon pointed to Wiscasset’s recently amended ordinance as an example of balancing residents’ desires for alternative energy with the public good. The ordinance restricts “small wind energy conversion systems” to minimum site areas of one acre of land in the town’s rural zoning district. The height of the tower can not exceed 140 feet and the tower and blades must be a non-reflective color.
    In addition to a site plan review, Wiscasset residents must present a comprehensive plan outlining the proposed structure.
    Barbara Schenkel, planning board chair, favored promoting solar power over wind power, as she said the wind turbines are “going to be an eyesore.”
    “I don’t see tons of solar power around here,” she said. “I don’t think it’s necessary to jump the gun.”
    Other members of the board, however, expressed concern about flat out prohibiting wind turbines.
    “I think we should be encouraging them with sensitivity to the neighbors,” said Peter Hatem. “I don’t see it as an eyesore, I see it as that’s a leader.”
    Suggestions by Hatem and Scott Collins to conduct a pilot wind turbine project at the transfer station or school complex were enthusiastically received by the board as a way to ease into the new technology.
    The Cape Elizabeth Planning Board will conduct another workshop on alternative energy sources with expert testimony next month.
    The Scarborough Ordinance Committee will also likely discuss alternative energy sources again before the month is over.