P&Z debates wind turbines: Are they agricultural or industrial?

NORTH CANAAN — The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) put the brakes on an effort to write regulations for wind turbines at its Jan. 10 meeting, while members of the public expressed opinions about the direction planning should take.

BNE Energy Inc. is scouting sites along the Canaan Mountain ridgeline in East Canaan. Most of that land is zoned residential/agricultural. Matthew Freund, an owner of Freund’s Farm, where an electricity-producing wind turbine is proposed, spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting to two issues.

Freund said that after listening to proposed regulations during a recent workshop, he is very concerned that a draft proposal seems to be taking several different directions at once, and that wind turbines are being categorized as industrial.

“There are a lot of windmills on agricultural land in the U.S.,� Freund said. “It should be termed agricultural because you’re harvesting the wind.�

Prohibiting wind turbines on farmland would be “a killer� for almost any workable project here, he said.

Freund also took issue with provision in draft regulations to protect the viewshed, which would mean projects could not be put in sites where they would be visible from any historic place. That eliminates most of East Canaan, he said, adding that the town’s industrial heritage left behind many historical sites. He noted the hills were once bare of trees as part of the iron industry, and those historic sites exist only because East Canaan was once a “truly industrial place.�

“It’s part of our culture and part of our history,� he said.

While Freund sought an idea of where P&Z is going on the matter, commission members later talked about what the state has planned in the way of wind turbine regulations.

P&Z member Norman Tatsapaugh suggested they table work on their own regulations and seek an answer from the state.

A letter from state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was discussed. He issued a press release Jan. 3, two days before his term ended and he was sworn in as U.S. senator. He called for Connecticut to “develop standards to regulate wind farm developments.�

Blumenthal said he would work with the state Legislature and citizens groups to “develop principles for the siting of renewable energy projects.�

“I have my doubts we’ll get a straight answer from the state as to what their plans are,� P&Z member Dan Adam said.

Other members agreed, but in the end, voted to ask the Board of Selectmen to write to state representatives seeking an answer as to if and when.

They wondered if  — like cell towers and the Siting Council that has complete jurisdiction over their placement — wind turbines would also be under the state’s control.

The Connecticut Siting Council is currently reviewing an application by BNE Energy for six turbines in Colebrook. They need approval from the state because they are bigger than the 1-megawatt cutoff. Turbines proposed in East Canaan would generate less than 1 megawatt.

Resident Tom Zetterstrom also spoke at the top of the meeting, suggesting P&Z take a proactive approach by identifying sites in town considered appropriate for wind turbines, in terms of zoning and environmental and viewshed impacts. He offered as an example outmoded and unused microwave towers on Rattlesnake Hill toward the north end of town. The towers remain because they were built and abandoned before the town had regulations that would have forced their removal.

Zetterstrom said the site may not be the best location to harvest wind, but it is adjacent to an industrial zone. It could offer a compromise of less productivity with less impact.