Published: October 08, 2007 11:32 pm      

Portage Twp. OKs sweeping turbine rules

PORTAGE — Portage Township supervisors have adopted a residential wind turbine ordinance, a first in Cambria and Somerset counties.

The Portage Township ordinance adopted last week restricts the number of turbines to one per parcel and spells out minimum setbacks. It also regulates the maximum noise levels that may be generated by turbines and establishes a permit fee.

Munster Road resident Vince Golden said that, while he agrees some restrictions are needed, the Portage Township ordinance goes further than necessary.

“It’s restricting the property owners’ rights,” Golden said Monday. “There are a lot of things written in there that are way over what they should be.”

He also voiced concern about residents paying a $1,500 annual permit fee if power generated by a windmill is sold to a power company.

The township was one of a handful of municipalities at the vanguard two years ago when a deal was reached with Gamesa Energy USA to build the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm and an ordinance was adopted regulating commercial wind.

The residential ordinance is targeted at much smaller turbines, perhaps 100 feet tall; commercial rules govern turbines four times as high.

“It’s easier than the ordinance in place,” township Solicitor C.J. Webb said. “It’s intended to let people put windmills up for residential use at regulations less stringent than commercial operations.”