ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — Energy generating wind turbines put up in St. Joseph County will soon have to conform to a new set of rules, aimed at keeping homeowners and their neighbors safe. The St. Joseph County Council passed the new regulations unanimously Tuesday.
County leaders said they want the push toward "green" energy to continue, but not unchecked.
More than three dozen wind turbines have already gone up at homes and businesses across the county in the last few years.
Many have been put up by Glen Smith.
His South Bend based company Wind-Wire has installed, or is in the process of installing, at least 78 turbines in the last 18 months alone.
At a cost of between $15,000 and $17,000 each, they're not cheap. But, making your own electricity, Smith says, is worth its weight in gold.
"This is self-sufficiency," he said, standing outside a grouping of three wind turbines he installed on a 68-acre parcel of property owned by Larry Putt near Lakeville. The third just went up last week, and Putt already has plans for a fourth.
"Plug them right into the panel, no inverters, no converters, and they produce AC," Smith said.
That's alternating current — the juice that powers your hair dryer, air conditioner and TV. Getting it from mother nature is suddenly a popular option.
"They're becoming very common," Smith said. "We're building them from Fort Wayne to Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis, all the way up to Traverse City. It's just a matter of time before one goes up near you."
Until Tuesday, that progress was marching forward unheeded, and unregulated.
But, appearing before the County Council Tuesday night, Smith's words weren't what some expected.
"You need this ordinance," he told the Council. "This is following in line with what every county is doing, for the most part. This gets you out of your garage built wind turbines. You don't want a cheap wind turbine, or one that can collapse, or one that doesn't stand up to wind loadings."
County Councilmen agreed, saying they encourage the "winds of change, " just as long as they don't blow too loudly.
Among the long list of new requirements:
-That noise levels remain under 55 decibels — no louder than the average air conditioner, which hums at about 60 decibels
-That height limits stay under 80 feet in agriculturally zoned areas and 60 feet in residential areas
-That only single-pole designs be used
-That only three turbines will be allowed per 10 acre lot
-That all turbines and poles be neutrally colored in either white, black or gray
-That the turbines be tested to withstand winds of at least 100 mph
It all adds up, designers of the regulations say, to one thing.
"This will provide some protection to adjacent property owners when these things go up. Obviously, nothing requires a homeowner to put a wind turbine up. What it does is give you some level of protection and input in certain circumstances if your neighbor wants to put one up," said Area Plan Commission Assistant Director Larry Magliozzi.
But others say the regulations don't go far enough. They worry the windmills will still be too noisy, too visible, and could lower property values."
"They are almost always on a large pole, about 60 feet in the air," said Tom Gruber, Government Liaison Officer for the Home Builder's Association of St. Joseph Valley. "And it conjured up images of the 1950s and TV towers. Every home had this massive TV tower which was fine in those days, but I think most people would agree that's not aesthetically pleasing."
It's one reason why the HBA pushed for the minimum lot size to be increased from its original requirement of 15,000 square feet to one acre.
But, some at Tuesday's meeting said that's not enough.
"Wind energy is fine out in big places where you have five or six acres, stuff like that. But, not where you're annoying your neighbor or endangering his property," said Clay Township resident Thomas Burnett.
Burnett had some suggestions on how to improve the ordinance, and he wasn't bashful about selling them to the Council.
"There's no maintenance standards in here," he said. "There's no setback standards. What about how the turbines kill birds? The noise level should be at the property line, not 10 feet past it. The setback should be at least the height of the tower, plus some extra. That way, if the wind turbine falls, it won't be on someone's home."
"If properly installed, which the building department will guarantee through inspections and proper permits, through inspections and the proper permits, these things should not fail," said Magliozzi.
But, Burnett isn't convinced.
"If they make some changes to this, I believe it would provide a good solution," Burnett said. "But, this isn't enough."
They are arguments that will likely continue, even as the new rules take effect.
All of the new regulations only apply to those in unincorporated areas of the county. Homeowners in South Bend and Mishawaka may require additional building permits.
The county's new regulations take effect on September 11.
