HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-10-02, Page 12Continued from page 10to each other in urban areas itmakes it very difficult to finda wind turbine that will satisfyall of the provisions set forthin the bylaw. Blaney said thesmaller a wind turbine is, themore noise it will make, with
the vast majority of small
scale wind turbines being
unacceptable, as far as noise
is concerned.
“Right now, I don’t know of
a small wind turbine that at
least one of my neighbours
wouldn’t be annoyed with as
far as noise goes,” Blaney
said. “I’m just not sure that
we wouldn’t be opening a big
can of worms here that we
won’t be able to satisfy when
complaints start coming in.”
MacLellan agreed
responding to Leeming’s
statistics on three different
wind turbines, with the most-
quiet being 85 decibles, but
the others being right around
100 decibles.
“Where neighbours are
concerned, anything over 90
decibles is unacceptable,” he
said. “Certainly these wind
turbines were not designed to
be environmentally-friendly
as far as noise is concerned.”
MacLellan felt the only
restriction on wind turbines in
urban areas should be noise.
He was also concerned about
the setback restrictions. He
said that a small-scale farm
operation would have trouble
putting up a wind turbine
because of the distance from
lot lines that the bylaw
outlines.
He proposed the possibility
of situating a wind turbine on
a fence line if the neighbour
was agreeable.
Current problems with
people mounting small wind
turbines on T.V. towers were
raised. Chief building
inspector Paul Josling said
that structures are beyond the
reach of the building code as
long as they are under 60 feet
tall.
Height also came into
question with the bylaw. The
initial restrictions stipulated
that a wind turbine be situated
at least three times higher
than the structure to ensure no
noise issues with adjoining
property owners. MacLellan
and Blaney, however, agreed
that the only way to regulate
noise is by decibels and that
the height of the structure
often does nothing to cut
noise down.
Questions were also raised
about nameplate capacity.
Blaney said nameplate
capacity is tested under the
best possible circumstances
for that particular brand and
that energy output, depending
on location and conditions,
can come in way under or
way over the nameplate
capacity.
This was a concern of Seili
as well, who asked how liable
the municipality would be if a
structure they approved
happened to make more noise
than it was supposed to. If a
wind turbine was advertised
as not exceeding a certain
sound level, but under certain
circumstances, it did, what the
municipality’s recourse
would be against ratepayer
complaints.
Blaney proposed a
provision that would see
horizontal axis windmillsbanned in urban areasaltogether. This would requireforward-thinking on council’spart, he said, but with thetechnological advancementsof vertical axis wind turbines,they would be the better
option for urban areas.
He said vertical axis wind
turbines have come a long
way since the “egg-beater”
style that councillor Bob
Fisher mentioned when
Blaney proposed his idea. He
said that any vertical axis
wind turbine he has seen is
virtually noiseless and it also
produces more hydro.
However, with the technology
still in its infancy, council
might find it difficult to put
together an all-encompassing
bylaw on such technology, he
said.
Blaney said that currently,
vertical axis wind turbines are
being made with equal
pressure spread throughout
the blade and a near-110
degree curve which cuts down
on noise.
There would also be a
provision in the new bylaw
that no commercial signage,
other than the manufacturer’s
logo would be permitted on
the wind turbine.
This raised questions
regarding the possibility of afarmer positioning a signadvertising his home farmbusiness and why somethinglike that would be frownedupon. Leeming said it is afairly common section ofbylaws like this one, meant to
keep up aesthetics and reduce
clutter on the municipal
landscape.
Seili, however, wanted to
see the wording changed to
follow its original intention,
with the exception of a
business owned by the
property-owner.
Chief building official Paul
Josling spoke up in favour of
the bylaw, saying that signage
would have to be decided on a
case-by-case basis. His
reasoning was that there are
no provisions in manufacturer
information that could dictate
how much additional weight a
wind turbine could hold.
A section in the bylaw also
prohibited landowners from
installing a wind turbine in
their front property. Siemon
said this section was not very
user-friendly for farmers,
saying that many farms in the
area have houses with long
lanes and virtually no
backyard. Council agreed and
this will be another section
that will be removed before
the second reading of thebylaw takes place.In addition to the issuescouncil had with the windpower generation section ofthe bylaw, Siemon spoke upagainst a section whereLeeming asked what kind of
limitations council wanted in
regards to the size of a small
solar energy production,
small scale system.
“Why would we limit
solar?” he said. “There’s no
noise, no pollution associated
with solar. We’re not here to
restrict, we’re here to
encourage and solar is more
suited for residents who are in
close proximity to each
other.”
Siemon admitted that the
process of shaping a bylaw
for such an evolving field will
be difficult. He said that
technology in the wind and
solar energy fields is
expanding daily, so it will be
difficult to be similarly far-
sighted when developing a
bylaw.
Council eventually sent
Leeming back to the drawing
board for a third draft to be
presented to council at its next
meeting. Councillors,
however, were not
discouraged, bringing up
examples of windmills in
Toronto that, if they fell,could come down on eightlanes of traffic or in Millbankthat could come down on arestaurant full of people.Councillors insisted this was an important step.“It’s not a simple issue, it’scomplex,” said Leeming. “Ifwe can approach it in a waythat makes sense, I think itwill work in Huron East.”PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2008.Noise the biggest factor for urban wind turbines
In a series of 10 photo
challenges, digital
photography buffs will have a
chance to learn to take better
pictures in a new Digital
Photography Club starting
this month.
“A lot of people have
digital cameras but don’t
know how much the camera
can do,” says digital
enthusiast, Lisa B. Pot. “This
club will help them use their
cameras and train them to
have the eye of a
photographer.”
Each month, the members
will have a photo challenge.
This month’s challenge is
macro photography, a
technique that “makes large”
a subject by taking a picture
up close and personal.
“Macro photography
captures beautiful patterns,
colours and textures that we
may not notice in nature,”
says Pot.
“Once I took a macro
photograph of my son’s
eye when he had stitches.
It was a fascinating
photo.”
Club participants will
receive tips and tricks prior to
the challenge, then will use
the month to take pictures
using that technique. On the
first Wednesday of the
following month, they will
gather for an “admire and
critique” slide show session
of everyone's pictures.
Finally, each participant
will make a layout using their
best photo. When the club
concludes, each member will
go home with an book
displaying their own digital
talent. The club will also
teach digital scrapbooking.
The club is open to anyone
who is interested in
improving their digital
photography. For more
information, call Lisa Pot at
519-526-7408 or e-mail
lpot@tcc.on.ca
On Tuesday, October 14, vote.
A federal general election is taking place on October 14, 2008.
Did you receive this card?
Keep the voter information card you
received by mail from Elections Canada.It
tells you where and when to vote. You’ll get
through the voting process more quickly if
you have it with you.
If you haven’t received it, or if you found
an error in your name or address, please
phone your local Elections Canada office.
You’ll find the number at www.elections.ca
by clicking on “Voter Information Service”.
Where and when to vote?
Advance voting
You can vote before election day.
Advance voting will be held Friday,
October 3, Saturday, October 4 and
Monday, October 6, from noon to 8:00 p.m.
Locations of advance polling stations
appear on the back of the voter information
card.
You can vote by mail or at your local
Elections Canada office using the special
ballot if you make the request by 6:00 p.m.
on Tuesday, October 7.
To download the registration form, go to
www.elections.ca and click on “I’m Mailing
My Vote!”, or call Elections Canada to
obtain the form and information.
Do you know the new identification rules
to vote?
When you vote, you must prove your
identity and address.
For the list of acceptable pieces of
identification authorized by the Chief
Electoral Officer of Canada, please
see the pamphlet you received by
mail from Elections Canada or visit
www.elections.ca and click on “Voter
Identification at the Polls”.
To vote, you must:
• be a Canadian citizen
• be at least 18 years old on election day
• prove your identity and address
Vote. Shape your world.
1-800-INFO-VOTE
1-800-463-6868
toll-free in Canada and the United States,
or 001-800-514-6868 toll-free in Mexico
TTY 1-800-361-8935
for people who are deaf or hard of hearing,
toll-free in Canada and the United States, or
613-991-2082 from anywhere in the world
www.elections.ca
FEDERAL GENERAL ELECTION
Tuesday, Octobre 14, 2008
ÉLECTION GÉNÉRALE FÉDÉRALE
Le mardi 14 octobre 2008
VOTER
INFORMATION CARD
CARTE D’INFORMATION
DE L’ÉLECTEUR
If your name and
address appear on
this card, you are
registered to vote.
Si vos nom et adresse
figurent sur cette
carte, vous êtes
inscrit pour voter.
Please take this card when you
go to vote.
Veuillez apporter cette carte
lorsque vous irez voter.
If this card is not addressed to you
or contains errors, please call the
toll-free number on the back.
Si cette carte ne vous est pas
destinée ou si elle contient des
erreurs, téléphonez au numéro
sans frais indiqué au verso.
To vote you must:
• be a Canadian citizen
• be at least 18 years old on
election day
Pour voter, vous devez être :
• citoyen canadien
• âgé d’au moins 18 ans
le jour de l’élection
This card CANNOT be used
as proof of identity or address.
Cette carte NE PEUT PAS servir
de preuve d’identité ou d’adresse.
IMPORTANT
When you vote, you MUST prove
your identity and address.
Au moment de voter, vous DEVEZ
prouver votre identité et votre adresse.
YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
VOTRE NOM
VOTRE ADRESSE
www.elections.ca
Photo club starts