Thanks George, This certainly helps. Good work on getting the zoning ordinance passed.
By the way, what do you do? Ryan On Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 12:45 PM, George Frantz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Ryan, > > Let me clarify, and correct myself. > > The 1.5 acre figure has no direct connection to the ability to install a > residential wind turbine in the Town of Groton. I used 1.5 acres because > that was the proposed minimum lot size required by zoning. > > The good news is that the minimum lot size was actually reduced to 1 acre > in the final iteration of the draft zoning ordinance, a move that I had > forgotten about. > > In the draft Town of Groton zoning regulations there is a requirement for > a "fall zone" around the wind turbine, but that has been proposed to be 1.5 > times the radius of the designed fall zone for the pylon and turbine, not > the height. I've recommended that distance, as opposed to 1 or 1.25 or 1.5 > times the height of the wind turbine pylon, because the majority of pylons > are designed with integral breaking points within the structure. > > Because of the integral breaking points the actual danger zone associated > with a collapse is less than many people may think. As a result a lot of > communities may inadvertantly be discouraging installations of wind turbines > by requiring excessive fall zone areas. For instance local regulations > requiring a fall zone equal to the height of a 120 foot pylon/turbine > structure automatically require a lot at least 240 feet wide and at least an > acre in size - just to accommodate the wind turbine and its fall zone. > > On the other hand I've seen pylon designs that have a fall zone radius of > only 50 to 70 feet. That translates in the Groton regulations to a minimum > lot width of 150 feet (50'x1.5x2) to 225 feet, and as little as less than > half an acre dedicated to fall zone. > > So, in the Town of Groton under the proposed regulations, if you have a > one-acre lot you may still be able to have the house, the garage, the shed > and other buildings on the front half-acre, and the backyard, garden and > wind turbine on the back half-acre. > > The one-acre minmum lot size also applies to businesses and industry. > > Hope this clarifies the situation. > > George Frantz > > Ryan Hottle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > George, Eric and Andy: > > Interesting zoning law... 1.5 acres for first turbine, 5 acres thereafter. > Most zoning ordinances mandate a "fall zone" of 100 or 125 % but do not > mandate property size. But 120 feet and up to 30 kW machine is not too > bad. Most ordinances consider less than 100 kW "small wind". > > I'm certainly no expert, but I did write a "Model Zoning Ordinance" for > Ohio > a year or two ago for my own purposes based largely on the Wisconsin Model > Zoning Ordinance. > > > http://www.renewwisconsin.org/wind/Toolbox-Zoning/Small%20Wind%20System%20Model%20Ordinance%2012-06.pdf > > Solar thermal is certainly more cost effective than photovoltaics. Any type > of heating with photovoltaics is generally not such a good move unless you > have a very special situation. Electricity is the most refined, highest > quality type of energy... heat is the crudest, lowest quality. Therefore, > using extremely expensive PV panels to generate heat usually doesn't make > much sense. Unless, for example, you have an extremely tight thermal > envelope and require only a small amount of heat to augment, say, an > off-grid passive solar thermal home. Maybe... > > As for water, we need to catch and store it! This is going to be necessary > for multiple reasons, not the least of which is the unpredictability of > climatic patterns in our warming world or the fact that entire city and > regional plumbing is constantly deteriorating and in need of repair and as > we face peak oil it may be difficult to maintain this level of repair. > Every > single home should have a rainwater catchment system in place. > > Yes, large scale hydro isn't good for ecosystems... all those systems have > already been built, however. I'm talking extremely small in comparison to > these mega systems. > > Take Care: > Ryan D. Hottle > > On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 11:16 AM, Andy Goodell > wrote: > > > How about solar thermal oo? Supposedly 4x more efficient at warming > > water than solar electric, and still has good NYS incentives. A full > > system looks to be around $4000 for a family from estimates I have seen. > > > > While I love some concepts of small scale hydro, you need water, which > > is certainly not on everyone's property, and the larger scale you go, > > the more ecological effects are potentially an issue. > > -Andy > > > > _______________________________________________ > > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, > > please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > > [email protected] > > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > > > > > -- > Ryan Darrell Hottle > > The Renaissance Group > Program Manager > www.ConserveFirst.com <http://www.conservefirst.com/> > > Global Climate Solutions > www.GlobalClimateSolutions.org <http://www.globalclimatesolutions.org/> > (coming soon!) > > Ohio Peak Oil Action (OPOA) > Co-Founder, Director > www.ohiopeakoilaction.org > > 30 N. Rose Blvd. > Akron, OH 44022 > > (740) 258 8450 > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, > please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > > > --------------------------------- > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it > now. > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, > please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > -- Ryan Darrell Hottle The Renaissance Group Program Manager www.ConserveFirst.com Global Climate Solutions www.GlobalClimateSolutions.org (coming soon!) Ohio Peak Oil Action (OPOA) Co-Founder, Director www.ohiopeakoilaction.org 30 N. Rose Blvd. Akron, OH 44022 (740) 258 8450 _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
