By Amanda Estes

Staff Writer

    As a green lifestyle becomes a priority for more and
more people, officials in Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough are reviewing
town ordinances to create a compromise between aesthetics and
alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power.

    In Scarborough, much of the talk of renewable energy
sources has been focused on solar panels and in particular a free
standing structure consisting of 10 panels in the town’s Grondin Pond
neighborhood.

    In Cape Elizabeth, discussions about alternative
energy sources have largely been focused on wind turbines, however, at
the direction of the town council, the planning board is working to
craft language in the town’s ordinances to allow for wind turbines,
solar panels and other devices such as tidal and outdoor wood boilers.
The planning board is to submit a final report with recommendations by
January 2, 2008. At the same time, a Cape Elizabeth Alternative Energy
Committee will explore opportunities to bring alternative energy
sources to municipal and school buildings and vehicles

    During a July 18 Scarborough Town Council meeting,
residents of Grondin Pond and the surrounding neighborhoods expressed
their distaste with the panels erected by Laurence Gardner and his
wife, Alison Noiles.

    Gardner has said he and his wife decided if they
were going to use solar power, they wanted to be able to run their
entire household of 12 by that method. Neighbors took offense to the
structures, claiming they were better suited for a commercial operation
and questioned why abutters were not notified of the project before the
five ten-foot tall poles were installed.

    Scarborough Code Enforcement Officer Dave Grysk said
when he is interpreting the ordinance, he determines whether the
structure is something that is typically seen in the town. He said wind
turbines are currently not a permitted use.   

    “They can have the panels there because it’s
something that’s typically been seen as the town of Scarborough as an
accessory structure,” he said.

    As a permitted use that met height and setback
requirements, Grysk said there was no requirement to notify abutters.
    

    On August 29, five residents appeared before
Scarborough’s ordinance committee to encourage the town to develop
standards for dealing with residents’ requests for alternative energy
technology.

    Mike Scammon said he supports solar electric technology and has tracking solar panels at his home.

    “The problem you have with PVs (photovoltaic
systems) is you just can’t screen them,” he said. “They have to be to
the open, you can’t plant trees around them. The reason why PV tracking
devices are used is they’re about 30 percent more efficient than fixed
roof mounts.”

    Scammon said he did not advocate putting a lot of
restrictions on alternative energy, however, he questioned the size of
the Grondin Pond structures.

    Ordinance Chair Sylvia Most echoed Scammon’s concerns about too many restrictions.

    “I’m not interested in creating an environment in
town where we are discouraging alternative energies,” she said. “It’s
not the day and age to be preventing people from using alternative
energy sources. That said, we have zoning regulations to create some
kind of known environment where people can have some idea what can be
done on the property.”

    Town Planner Dan Bacon said solar panels serving
residential households are generally considered accessory uses.

     During a workshop Tuesday night, members of the
Cape Elizabeth Planning Board were skeptical that a lot of residents
would want wind turbines or be able to afford the structures. However,
they wanted the ordinance language to allow for emerging technologies.
The board largely supported designating wind turbines as an accessory
use with performance standards such as noise, appearance, setback
requirements and safety. One issue that remains to be determined is
whether or not the wind turbines could be constructed on an empty lot.

     Last week, Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Smith
said he had received two requests from residents interested in wind
turbines, in particular the Skystream 3.7 model.

    According to Skys

treamenergy.com, the product is the first “all-inclusive wind generator
(with controls and inverter built in) designed to provide quiet, clean
electricity in very low winds.”

    The tower ranges in height between 34 and 70 feet,
depending on the site and the rotor measures 12 feet. The Web site
recommends a site be unobstructed and larger than half an acre and
receive at least 10 miles per hour average wind speed. It also
recommends people check to make sure local zoning allows the structure
and the local utility company has an interconnectivity agreement.

    While the planning board was skeptical that allowing
wind turbines would lead to wind farms in town, some said with the
current technology, one wind turbine would not provide much economic
incentive for residents. James Huebener estimated the wind turbines
cost to be between $30,000 and $50,000.

    According to “A Small Wind Electric Systems Guide,”
published by the U.S. Department of Energy, however, depending on size,
local zoning, permitting and interconnection costs, a residential wind
turbine can cost between $3,000 and $50,000.

    Pat Coon, of Energyworks LLC, a firm that designs,
installs and services renewable energy systems, said for most of his
clients, the decision to pursue a wind  turbine or another form of
renewable energy is usually less about cost  and more about a way
of further reducing their household’s carbon footprint.

    Coon said technology such as the Skystream 3.7 has
made it possible for residences and small businesses to consider wind
power.

    “In the past there wasn’t really a good option for
residential scale, small wind and the reason was there wasn’t a unit
that had integrated an inverter with a wind turbine,” he said.

    With offices in Liberty and Portland, Maine, Coon
said as he works with Cape Elizabeth and other towns, he is learning
that each municipality approaches the issue differently.

    “Up in northern Maine, if there’s not a written
ordinance opposing something you can do it, but in Cape Elizabeth and a
bunch of towns in southern Maine, if there isn’t anything in the
ordinance, you can’t do it,” he said. “Every town in southern Maine has
its own rules that you’ve got to follow and we’ve had a number of towns
that just shut us down because they don’t have the ordinance in place
and essentially they’re preventing their citizens from pursuing
environmentally friendly energy.”  

    Coon pointed to Wiscasset’s recently amended
ordinance as an example of balancing residents’ desires for alternative
energy with the public good. The ordinance restricts “small wind energy
conversion systems” to minimum site areas of one acre of land in the
town’s rural zoning district. The height of the tower can not exceed
140 feet and the tower and blades must be a non-reflective color.

    In addition to a site plan review, Wiscasset
residents must present a comprehensive plan outlining the proposed
structure.

    Barbara Schenkel, planning board chair, favored
promoting solar power over wind power, as she said the wind turbines
are “going to be an eyesore.”

    “I don’t see tons of solar power around here,” she said. “I don’t think it’s necessary to jump the gun.”

    Other members of the board, however, expressed concern about flat out prohibiting wind turbines.

    “I think we should be encouraging them with
sensitivity to the neighbors,” said Peter Hatem. “I don’t see it as an
eyesore, I see it as that’s a leader.”

    Suggestions by Hatem and Scott Collins to conduct a
pilot wind turbine project at the transfer station or school complex
were enthusiastically received by the board as a way to ease into the
new technology.

    The Cape Elizabeth Planning Board will conduct
another workshop on alternative energy sources with expert testimony
next month.

    The Scarborough Ordinance Committee will also likely
discuss alternative energy sources again before the month is over.