The Planning Board will recommend to the Town Council that windmills with small turbines be allowed as permitted uses in certain zones, while larger windmills would require special use permits. A provision for wind farms might constitute a later revision to the windmill section of the Zoning Ordinance, the board decided Monday, Dec. 11.

Planner Phil Herr will be asked to include these specifics in an amendment to Zoning Ordinance Section 508—Wind Energy Conversion Systems. The amendment, if passed, would allow the Town Council to lift the windmill moratorium it imposed in August. The moratorium was issued after public outcry over zoning rules that permit large windmills to be constructed without town review.

As outlined, the amendment would permit the installation of small windmills — with heights up to 42 feet and a maximum capacity of 2.5 kilowatts — as a permitted use after neighbors are notified. If neighbors request it, the Planning Board would subject these small windmills to development plan review. Large windmills, up to 10 kilowatts and as high as 80 feet would require a special use permit from the Zoning Board and could be installed only at homes not in reach of existing power lines.

The board will also recommend that the Town Council establish a policy for development of wind farms to reduce the island's dependency on fossil fuels.

At Monday's meeting, the board conducted a lengthy review of a document prepared by planning consultant Herr, who had proposed criteria for small, medium and large windmills. The discussion ranged far from Herr's proposal, becoming at times quite esoteric and more often highly specific on issues of electrical engineering.

A presentation by Henry duPont, who sells and services windmills on Block Island, dominated most of the discussion. He began by telling the board that windmills are not an essential part of his business, and that he would not be hurt financially if windmills were not allowed on the island. "But," he said, "there are some facts I think you need to be aware of."

DuPont then distributed handouts and explained why windmills, even at heights of up to 80 feet, were made allowable uses in the Zoning Ordinance. The higher a wind turbine is placed, the more energy it will produce, he said. Increasing the radius of the blades also increases power production exponentially.

"So bigger and higher is better?" concluded Chairman Norris Pike.

"You're not going to like it, but it's true," said duPont.

Several times the board reflected on the roots of the windmill debate, concluding that a highly visible windmill installed this summer by duPont at the Corn Neck Road home of Johnathan and Jo-An Evans caused the uproar over windmills. "If that windmill were better sited, we wouldn't be here," said Pike, who wondered why the 60-foot tower was placed in the home's front yard, when prevailing winds are generally out of the north (the rear of the home). Guessing about the reasons for the windmill's placement, he said, "They didn't want to look at it, so now everybody has to look at it."

Second Warden Martha Ball attended the meeting. She was asked what revisions the Town Council wanted the Planning Board to make in the wind energy conversion systems section of the Zoning Ordinance.

"We'd like to see revisions in stages. We'd like to pull off part of the moratorium as soon as possible," she said.

Pike began the discussion by giving the board his opinions: "I think small windmills are fine as long as they are away from existing power lines. The windmill on West Beach and Corn Neck roads is more of a toy than a practical device." Such windmills are not a necessity and probably not money-makers, he said.

But he also said he does not want to ban windmills. "It seems like it would be a waste. We have so much wind to use." He also favored creation of a windmill farm where residents could invest in power on Block Island by contributing to the erection of large windmills. One site suggested was the Transfer Station.

Board member Dennis Heinz was concerned with windmill noise. The Corn Neck Road windmill is a disruption to the abutters, he said. "It sits there all winter making noise with no one in the home. Serenity and quiet is one of the attractions of Block Island in the winter."

Board member Robert Gilpin was skeptical of efforts to measure noise levels. "I played with the town's noise meter, and I could make it read anything I wanted it to."

Pike was of a similar opinion, saying that noise measurements would not be a practical element of any amendment. "Decibel measurements are just a way of measuring frustration," he said.

Gilpin blamed government programs for the erection of the troublesome windmill. "You can blame the feds. If the grant money wasn't there, that windmill wouldn't be there," he said.

Board member Anthony Edwards said that dedicating an area for large windmills would be a difficult task. "We can't find a place for a parking lot; how can we find a place for windmills?" he wondered.

In the power generation arena, Edwards said, the real noise maker is the Block Island Power Company. It should be regulated also, he said.

The board felt the public should pursue solar installations over windmills. But duPont told the board that windmills are the most cost-effective sources of alternative energy. In terms of energy production, $10,000 invested in a windmill would yield as much energy as $40,000 invested in solar panels, he said. "Do you know why?" he asked the board. After a pause, duPont answered, "Because the sun doesn't shine at night."

Another alternative energy advocate, Chris Warfel, also an engineer, told the board that wind energy is the fastest growing alternative energy source. He disputed Pike's notion that windmills are toys. "Because electricity on Block Island is 30 cents per kilowatt-hour, it is possible for someone to make back his investment." As the cost of fossil fuels increases, he warned, the wind-energy option should not be ignored. The town will have to take the lead on alternative energy because BIPCo has resisted alternative sources, he said. "They're in the fuel business," he said.

Commenting on aesthetics, Warfel said, "I find some recently built homes more offensive than windmills." DuPont made a similar point, saying that power lines and telephone poles crisscross the island. Pike responded, "Just because one thing is ugly is not precedent to put up something else that's ugly."

As the conversation drifted from utility management to aesthetics to engineering, the board tried to focus on its task. They wondered: how high a windmill must be to be effective; what generation capacity is practical for home use; and who really needs a windmill.

Pike said that homeowners who are far from power lines should be allowed to produce their own power; others should be permitted smaller windmills; and a wind farm could reduce the island's dependence on fossils fuels.

DuPont reminded the board that height is crucial for windmills. At increased heights, wind speeds are higher and the wind is more consistent, he said. "The power of the wind is the cube of the wind speed. From 30 feet to 60 feet (of height) there is a 40 percent increase in power," he said. "The ordinance is the way it is because it was demonstrated that they have to be high to work."

Larger windmills for residential use might be allowed with special use permits, Gilpin suggested.

Board member Weld Coxe said the session had been educational for everyone.

The board then asked Coxe to send a memo to Herr and the Town Council conveying the board's conclusion that small windmills should be permitted uses while larger ones would need special-use permits. It will also recommend the development of policy regarding wind farms and ask Herr to draft a zoning amendment on wind farms.