By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
Warren Roos, of Cape Elizabeth, has been an “armchair follower” of wind energy for the last 30 years. If he is allowed to install a wind turbine on his 1.8-acre property near the ocean, he knows of at least three people who will follow suit.
“They were willing to let me put my head in a noose to see if it falls off,” he said, smiling.
Roos shared his perspective at a planning board meeting on Tuesday night as the board proposed standards to allow wind turbines in town. Currently, there is nothing stated in the ordinances about wind turbines, therefore they are prohibited.
If allowed as an accessory use with standards, residents would be required to go through a process similar to obtaining a building permit. Plans exceeding the standards would trigger planning board review.
The interest in wind turbines so far has been focused on a particular model, the Skystream 3.7, which can cost between $12,000 and $15,000 to purchase and install depending on the site, according to skystreamenergy.com. The Skystream model can be mounted on a 35 foot monopole, with available tower heights reaching 110 feet. In a 12 mile per hour wind, the SkyStream produces roughly 400-kilowatt hours per month.
The board recommended Town Planner Maureen O’Meara draft ordinance language that would allow residents to pursue alternative energy while also leaving some room for emerging technologies.
“I’d get ahead of the curve on this one,” O’Meara said, adding that unless there is a controversial project in town, no one is going to review the ordinance language for at least another two years.
Their recommendations would allow one residential wind turbine per lot in all zoning districts. Applicants would have to have a minimum half acre lot size and the turbine would have to be setback a minimum horizontal distance one times the height from property lines, buildings and roads. The board also recommended noise from the turbine not exceed the 50 to 55 decibel range. An initial height limit of 70 feet was also proposed.
Planning Board Chairman Barbara Schenkel was against allowing the height to exceed 50 feet because they will visually impair the landscape. Schenkel has said she favors promoting solar energy before “jumping the gun” to wind energy.
O’Meara said she had concerns about placing any visual impact standards on the turbines.
Phil Coupe, representing Energyworks SOUTH in Portland, said in order to maximize energy output, the turbine needs a 200 foot buffer.
“In Maine, the best wind reserves are right on the water and inland on mountaintops and ridge tops,” Coupe said.
Energyworks NORTH in Liberty has installed a residential wind turbine in Nobleboro, however, Coupe said the Portland office has yet to install any turbines in southern Maine. He encouraged planning board members to visit Saco’s wastewater treatment plant, where the city installed a Skystream turbine last year.  
“We remain skeptical this is a viable business,” Coupe said.
Planning Board member James Huebener said he was interested in a turbine for his own property, but said he was skeptical about the system’s payback. According to the manufacturer, Skystream can pay for itself within five years.
The planning board considered including proof of conservation efforts as a precondition for applicants interested in installing a wind turbine, but determined that would be an inefficient process.
“That would be akin to telling people they can’t have an Escalade in their driveway if they want a wind mill,” Coupe said.
One point of further discussion will be whether wind turbines should be permitted in shorebird areas in the southern portion of Cape Elizabeth, stretching from the Scarborough line to Crescent Beach, all of which is owned by a trust controlled by members of the Sprague family.
O’Meara said people are concerned if they install wind turbines, they are harming birds and bats, yet if they don’t pursue wind energy, there may not be any wildlife left.
Planning Board member Peter Hatem said without “hard data” on the impact of residential wind turbines, it was too early to exclude an area that could be a “top generator of wind.”
The planning board has been asked to report its progress to the town council by November. Then the board will need to draft a set of ordinance amendments and hold a public hearing before making its recommendations to the council, which will refer the amendments to the ordinance committee before voting.
Roos will likely follow the process closely.
“I think it’s great that they realize at a local level that we have to make some real changes,” he said.