By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
Cape Elizabeth residents who spoke at a planning board public hearing on Tuesday night were largely in favor of permitting residential wind turbines in town, but there are some who continue to express concerns about the structures effects on the visual landscape.
Planning Board Chairman Barbara Schenkel still has aesthetic concerns and abstained from the vote to send the zoning amendments to the town council while the other five members present at the meeting were in favor of moving forward. The town council will consider the amendments and host another public hearing.
Schenkel said she was taking “the chicken’s way out” of the vote, but was not in favor of allowing 100-foot towers in town, which is the maximum height allowed under the proposed amendments.
Residents expressed differing opinions through email with some writing they continue to be concerned about visual appearance, noise, property values and lot size. Others said they favored allowing wind turbines on smaller lots and said abutting neighbors should be allowed to share a turbine.
As amended during Tuesday’s meeting, the zoning amendments would allow residents to obtain a building permit from the code enforcement officer to install one wind turbine on their property. The turbines would be constricted to a minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet and the property would need to meet a minimum setback of 50 percent of the distance from the ground to the center of the turbine. A professional engineer must approve the structure if residents are not able to meet the minimum setback.
The turbine’s rated capacity would be restricted to no more than 20 kilowatts, in excess of the household’s electricity consumption, allowing consumers to use their energy generation to offset their consumption and even allowing their energy meters to “run backward” when they generate excess electricity.
Wind turbines would be required to have a monopole design without guy wires support structures and would be restricted to a maximum height of 100 feet to the center of the turbine. The system must also be in a neutral color and made of a non-reflective surface. Turbines would also be subject to noise standards.
“It’s the right thing to do and we must start to do the right thing if the human race is going to get better,” said resident Warren Roos, addressing the board.
Roos said he wants to install a Skystream 3.7 model turbine like the one found at the Bush family compound, Walker’s Point, and the Saco wastewater treatment plant. He said he expects the model to cut his electric bill, which is more than $200 a month, by two-thirds.
He said there is no evidence to suggest wind turbines have an adverse effect on property values, but he said surveys have shown homeowners are willing to pay more for homes with wind or solar structures.
Priscilla Armstrong said she didn’t have any plans to install a wind turbine at her home, but said the technology might win her over someday. As a former school board member who has seen how expensive oil can be for the school department, Armstrong said she was in favor of installing a turbine near the schools or the transfer station.
Eastman Road condominiums
Eastman Meadows condominium developer Joel Fitzpatrick of Wyley Enterprises, revealed a new set of plans to the planning board during a special workshop on Tuesday.
Fitzpatrick is proposing construction of 46 single-story, two-bedroom condominiums on a 40-acre parcel, flanked by wetlands and abutting existing open space and trail networks off Eastman Road. The units will be marketed to retired empty nesters, Fitzpatrick has said.
Owens McCullough, a project manager with Sebago Technics employed by Fitzpatrick, said following the public’s concerns and comments during a public hearing in October, Fitzpatrick hired another consulting firm to walk the site and verify wetland mapping. With further review,
a strip of land with mature trees and peat like soil, located westerly of an existing farm, was determined to be a critical wetland. Because town ordinances require a 250-foot setback from critical wetlands, the development’s layout had to be adjusted, McCullough said. As a result, the amount of open space on the property could increase, he said.
Fitzpatrick is also proposing to landscape or forest an area that once was an old agricultural field and now meets wetland criteria. McCullough said the intent is to have the area function as a drainage and filtration mechanism.
Currently, the allowable density is 46 units, however, Fitzpatrick is proposing 48, which includes an existing farmhouse. The development will also have an additional moderate-income unit, increasing the total number to six.
McCullough said they plan to submit their density calculations for a peer review.
Fitzpatrick reiterated there is no reason to restrict the units to people 55 and older. He said when he receives calls from young families they are not interested in the Eastman Meadows project.
Town Planner Maureen O’Meara provided the board with a list of the condominiums currently located in Cape Elizabeth, some 296 units, none of which are age restricted. Running the addresses through the school department turned up 11 children currently living in the units, some of which have three bedrooms and two stories.
The unit design has largely not changed from the original proposal, but Fitzpatrick said the buildings will have decorative columns, window trim and decorative garage doors.
“With this type of building it’s really hard to get too fancy,” he said.
Initially, the development was going to include a public road, but now Fitzpatrick is proposing it be  a private drive, McCullough said. In order to limit disturbance to an abutter, McCullough said they were calling for one primary access and one gated emergency access to the development.
The board and town planner Maureen O’Meara however, advised against an emergency gate.
“Emergency access gates are by their nature less accessible,” O’Meara said.
McCullough said as an alternative, they could push the road over in the easterly direction, which will likely impact wetlands.
To lessen the concerns of neighbors, the board also suggested Fitzpatrick consider shoulder work and more signage on Eastman Road for pedestrian safety and traffic calming.
McCullough said he and Fitzpatrick will continue to work on the design through January. They expect to be back before the planning board in February.