NEWPORT
— Less than a week after the Department of the Interior opened the Rhode Island
coast to offshore wind
energy development, local officials held a public workshop on a
smaller-scale wind energy ordinance the city’s own Energy & Environment
Commission found highly restrictive. The proposed ordinance would implement an
outright ban on turbines, regardless of design or size, across about 80 percent
of the city.
Drafted
by the Planning Board during the past year, the ordinance details requirements
for property owners planning installation of small-scale wind turbines that
cover height, decibel limits and safety. Board Chairman James Dring and
Planning & Development staffer Andrew DeIonno, who joined City Council
members and other local officials around a table in council chambers at City
Hall on Dec. 5, prepared the ordinance.
Rhode Island as a whole has staked a national leadership position with its Ocean SAMP to carefully develop commercial offshore wind energy potential off the mainland and Block Island. However, the city and town council members on Aquidneck Island have yet to follow suit with a more distributed approach available through the use of much smaller commercial- and residential-scale wind turbines.
In
September, the Middletown Town Council voted to
limit wind turbines to farms only, despite available technologies and designs
that reduce or eliminate concerns over noise and shadow flicker. While there is
significant state-level progress with utility-scale commercial wind energy
projects, communities on Aquidneck Island and Jamestown are taking a far more
conservative approach relative to smaller-scale, more-decentralized renewable
energy solutions that foster energy independence and energy savings and reduce
greenhouse gas emission. Newport’s proposed ordinance, if adopted as drafted,
would continue that recent local trend.
Powered by gas
Currently, Rhode Island derives about 90 percent of its energy from natural gas, with a total of 12 fossil-fueled energy plants operating statewide, according to a recently released report from Environment Rhode Island.
Currently, Rhode Island derives about 90 percent of its energy from natural gas, with a total of 12 fossil-fueled energy plants operating statewide, according to a recently released report from Environment Rhode Island.
“Coal-
and natural gas-fired power plants pollute our air, are major contributors to
global warming and consume vast amounts of water— harming our rivers and lakes
and leaving less water for other uses,” according to the report. “Wind energy
has none of these problems. It produces no air pollution, makes no contribution
to global warming and uses no water.”
Today,
only 2 percent of Rhode Island’s electricity is generated from renewable
sources such as wind, solar or landfill gas. However, state law (General Law
Chapter 39-26) mandates that by 2020 16 percent of electricity sold
in the state must be generated from renewable resources.
The
proposed Newport ordinance (pdf)
is modeled after those in Massachusetts, according to Dring and Delonno, who
responded to a dozen questions from City Council members during the 45-minute
workshop. Handouts mapping the turbine ban were presented to the council, but
weren’t made available to the public or press prior to the start of the
workshop, nor were these details projected for the benefit of the viewing
public attending the workshop — a concern expressed by Beth Milham, co-chair of
the Energy & Environment Commission.
Council
member Kate Leonard brought attention to the non-functioning Portsmouth High
School wind turbine, raising concerns about costs, though large utility-scale
turbines weren’t the focus of the workshop and are in fact banned in the
proposed ordinance. Leonard also raised concerns about placing turbines in the
city’s historic districts.
“The
comp plan talks about the importance of protecting the historic nature of the
districts,” said Leonard, referring to the city’s Comprehensive Land
Use Plan.
Council
member Justin MacLaughlin cited concern over the requirement to conduct an
annual safety review. The cost for review would be born by the turbine owner,
Dring said.
Plenty of restrictions
The ordinance defines a residential scale system as one with a “rated capacity of up to 10 kilowatts or less of onsite consumption,” limiting height to 50 feet or 10 feet above a roof ridgeline. In addition to size, the ordinance restricts decibel level to current citywide limits on noise. Reflecting this common concern, one local resident and an outright opponent of wind energy, related a story of being kept awake by a small, yacht-mounted wind turbine while overnighting aboard his own yacht in Block Island’s Great Salt Pond.
The ordinance defines a residential scale system as one with a “rated capacity of up to 10 kilowatts or less of onsite consumption,” limiting height to 50 feet or 10 feet above a roof ridgeline. In addition to size, the ordinance restricts decibel level to current citywide limits on noise. Reflecting this common concern, one local resident and an outright opponent of wind energy, related a story of being kept awake by a small, yacht-mounted wind turbine while overnighting aboard his own yacht in Block Island’s Great Salt Pond.
The
draft ordinance bans outright wind turbines of any size or type in the city’s
historic districts, the most contentious issue addressed during the recent
workshop. This prompted concerns put on record by the Energy & Environment
Commission after the workshop opened for public comment.
“It
is our feeling that a blanket prohibition in all historic districts is much too
restrictive,” said Milham, reading from an official statement. “Newport is a
living historical area, not a museum” — an argument perhaps not lost on City
Council members who voted to approve the avant-garde “concept art” of designer
Maya Lin, featuring faux foundations and chimney, part of a revamp, now
underway, of downtown Queen Anne Square in the heart of the historic downtown
district.
“There
are areas in the south end of the city with large lots and homes that are not
historic,” Milham continued. “These are areas that would also have the best
wind resources. As long as they comply with the stated (and appropriate)
restrictions on noise and flicker … there should be no cause for reasonable
objections.”
A
map of Newport distributed to council members by City Manager Jane Howington
shows a broad area in red where turbines of any size or type would be
prohibited. This includes an outright ban, with the exception of a single lot,
along the entire windswept shoreline south from First Beach around Ocean Drive,
along Fort Adams and the harbor front north to the Newport Yacht Club.
The
Energy & Environment Commission suggested in its comments that larger plots
along the interior of Ocean Drive, with non-historic structures, should be
allowed to install smaller wind turbines. The seven-member commission’s mission
is to advise the City Council and educate the public on energy efficiency,
renewable energy and the environment. The group took no issue with the ban of
turbines in the city’s downtown densely populated historic districts, where lot
size is small.
“They
are installed all over Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard,” said Doug Sabetti,
owner of Newport Solar and a commission member. “They are as a natural a view
along the ocean as fishing boats.”
Sabetti
surveyed wind turbine owners across Aquidneck Island in advance of the
workshop. In an e-mail, Sabetti wrote that the two small residential-scale
turbines at Ventura Farms on Mitchells Lane in Middletown had exceeded expected
output and reduced average winter electricity bills from $350 to $15. He
noted that the owners had received no complaints of any kind from neighbors.