If it were up to the Cape Elizabeth Planning Board, Warren Roos would get the windmill he’s always wanted.
On Dec. 18, the board voted 4-0, with one member abstaining, to recommend to the Town Council that windmills be permitted, with some restrictions, in Cape Elizabeth. The council could address the issue as soon as the next meeting, to be held on Jan. 14, according to Town Planner Maureen O’Meara.
Roos, who has been pushing the planning board to allow windmills, showed up at the public hearing to make his case one more time on a proposed zoning amendment to allow one small wind energy system, 100 feet or less, per 20,000 square-foot lot.
He said our world is too dependent on oil.
“We really need to find a way to get out of it,” he said.
Roos argued against the reasons he believed people would not want windmills in their town. He said there is no evidence that they lower property values, they cannot usually be heard above general background noise and, if installed properly, they’re less likely to fall than a tree.
“No setbacks are required for trees,” he said.
In considering their votes, Roos asked the board members to think about “not whether or not you like them, but whether it’s the right thing to do.”
Priscilla Armstrong also stood up and spoke in favor of the windmills, though, she said, she had no immediate plans to install one herself.
“We all know the oil bill for the schools is huge,” said Armstrong, who identified herself as a former school board member. “I think that’s the way the town should go.”
According to Barbara Schenkel, Planning Board chairwoman, the town has talked about putting up a windmill at the transfer station for educational purposes.
Though no one came to the meeting to speak out against allowing windmills, Schenkel said the board received e-mails from residents on both sides of the debate.
She said some were concerned about a decrease in property value, aesthetics and the size of the lots on which windmills would be permitted.
Planning Board member Peter Hatem said he would have liked to allow them on even smaller lots, so that no one would be prevented from having a windmill, but said he thought the board was able to come up with a size that was a safe and not too exclusive.
“We did carefully consider what size was appropriate,” he said.
Schenkel agreed that the board would not want to limit residents on smaller house lots, but, she said, she remains “very concerned about aesthetics.”
Board member Paul Godfrey asked whether requiring that the windmills have non-reflective surfaces would be enough to address aesthetics. What if someone wanted to put up a bright orange windmill? he asked.
The board agreed that would be a concern and added that the windmills must be a neutral color.
When it came to a vote, Schenkel abstained, admitting that it was “the chicken’s way out,” but said, though still concerned about the aesthetics, she didn’t want to vote against it.
Though Roos was pleased with the vote, he’s not going out and buying his new windmill quite yet.
“Now that the council gets it, it’s anybody’s guess,” he said.
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