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Southwest Wind power"Air" <br />on lamppost <br />Many existing height <br />limitations still exist <br />based upon the fact that <br />100 years ago water <br />pressure in firefighters' <br />hoses could not reach <br />higher than 35 feet. <br />EnergiePGE 35kW turbine <br />Flagpoles, lamp.posts, <br />and utility poles are <br />allowed in front of <br />schools and parking lots <br />among cars and people <br />because they are <br />engineered structures, <br />just like wind turbine <br />towers. They should <br />all receive the same <br />treatment under law. <br />ISSUES <br />The following' issues are key components of land use law, as well as public <br />acceptance of small wind systems, and are critical for the successful placement <br />of a turbine: <br />1. Setback Distances and Height <br />2. Lot Size <br />3. ' Aesthetics <br />4. Sound <br />5. Property Values <br />6. Insurance <br />7. Abandonment <br />S. Multiple Turbines <br />9. Urban and Building -Integrated <br />Installations <br />10. Potential of Structural or <br />Electrical Failure <br />11. Soil Studies <br />1. Setback Distances and .Height: <br />To balance aga'inst.the need for tall <br />towers (see p. 6), good practice requires <br />that a turbine in a residential district be <br />"set back" from a property line some <br />given distance. (For commercial or <br />other zones, this distance is often <br />considerably less, even zero, since in <br />these areas affected parties seldom <br />exist immediately outside a property <br />line.) The mandated distance in <br />residential zones should reflect valid <br />concerns for property rights of abutting <br />neighbors, as well as those of the <br />turbine owner. <br />This most commonly translates to the <br />tower height plus the length of one <br />blade (the turbine's "total extended <br />height") from the property line, <br />inhabited neighboring structures, utility <br />lines, and/or road right-of-ways. This <br />distance should suffice so long as the <br />tower is professionally engineered <br />and/or the installer provides engineered <br />plans of the tower, the foundation, and <br />the system does not exceed the <br />definition of nuisance noise as <br />established in the zoning code. <br />(See also "Sound," p. 11.) <br />Independent structural analyses of a <br />tower and its foundation are readily <br />available from the manufacturer, so <br />requiring additional studies is <br />unnecessary and also prohibitively <br />expensive for a turbine owner. For <br />their own protection and insurance <br />considerations, the manufacturer <br />conducts these studies for reasons of <br />economics, responsibility, and - even if <br />for no other reason - self-preservation. <br />(See "Potential of Structural or Electrical <br />Failure," p. 15.) <br />