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Photo courtesy of Cook County Planning
and Zoning
TV and communication towers have been in the North Shore news quite a
bit recently, Now a tower of another type is being talked about in Tofte.
Some residents don't want to see this 90-foot wind generator completed.
Wind generation on Superior shore?
By Rhonda Silence, Cook
County Star
TV and communication towers have been in the North Shore news quite a
bit recently, Now a tower of another type is being talked about in Tofte.
Medora Woods, of Minneapolis, is installing a 90-foot wind generator on
her Tofte lakeshore home - and some of her neighbors are unhappy.
Cook County Planning Administrator Tim Nelson was surprised when he
received a call on February 27 from a Tofte resident asking if the
proper permits had been issued for a tower construction. Nelson said
that under existing Cook County zoning ordinances, a permit is not
needed for a wind-generator tower. "Our ordinance is relatively
vague on this. It says no structure shall be erected unless a land use
permit is in place."
Nelson said the county ordinances were studied in detail and there were
no clear prohibitions on wind generator towers. County ordinance section
2.59 states that fences, utility poles, lawn lights, antennae and
related minor equipment shall not be considered structures. Another
section, 5.08 states in districts where the following structures are
permitted, heights of the some structures may exceed limits set forth
elsewhere in the ordinance and item F specifically mentions windmills
and wind generators.
And although there is a countywide moratorium on the construction of any
new communication towers until June 2001, County Attorney Bill Hennessy,
said this tower doesn't fall under that criteria.
In a phone interview, Woods said she has been planning her energy
self-sustaining home since fall 1997. She has incorporated energy and
water conservation features and installed photovoltaic (solar) roof
panels. The Jacobs windmill construction has just begun, with cement
footings and some framework in place. She admits she was remiss in not
contacting her neighbor to the east, but feels that the wind generation
firm she is working with has done a good job siting the tower.
"It's sited in a way that you have to be right next to it to see
it. We looked at it from many different angles. We also don't want it
visible from the road. I can understand people's concerns - you come to
the Northwoods for the scenery; you want it to be rustic. But we should
all be more self-sufficient."
"If people have a problem with my wind tower, I'd say that using
coal is much more damaging to the environment. Coal is dirty - to get
out of the ground and to burn. It's just that it's doing the damage
somewhere else."
Contacted by phone, easterly neighbor Jack Herbst applauded Wood's
intentions, but added, "I don't want to look at it. I don't think
it belongs on the lake." Herbst disagrees with Wood's assertion
that it won't be seen from his house and trees will block that it.
"We're kind of in a bay here. Her property juts out and there is no
way we won't see it, from whatever window we look out. The trees here
are about 35 to 40 feet - it will stick out like a sore thumb."
He is also concerned about the noise. Woods said the generator would be
less noisy than the truck traffic on Highway 61. "It's not a motor
noise - wind runs it. And if we have high winds, the lake will be
noisier."
Herbst is not pacified by the comparison with Highway 61 traffic.
"When we bought our home we were willing to accept the Monson
trucks and noise behind us. We can hear it occasionally, but not when we
go downstairs or sit out on our deck. This we will see - and hear!"
In fact, Herbst added that he wouldn't have minded if the tower had been
placed closer to Highway 61. "It probably wouldn't bother us at
all."
However, he really doesn't believe the shore of Lake Superior is the
place for a 100 foot tower. "The beautiful shoreline doesn't need
power generation on it - especially when there are power lines running
just up the road."
He added that he is concerned that precedence is being set. "If she
can do it, what's to stop me from putting up two or three, to sell power
to Arrowhead Electric? We could have wind generators up and down the
shore?"
Arrowhead Electric's Member Services Representative Bill Huggins said
the power company isn't pushing for the construction of wind generators.
"If people want to sell energy, we're required by law to purchase
it. We're not encouraging people to set up wind generators on Lake
Superior. We certainly want to see alternative energy, but there have to
be compromises."
Planning Administrator Nelson had the same questions and considered
requiring a conditional use permit (CUP). However after discussions with
the county attorney and Arrowhead Electric about the amount of
electricity being produced, the county determined this was not a
commercial enterprise, so a conditional use permit is not necessary.
Nelson added that the county also looked at how it dealt with a similar
project in Hovland in 1995.
Joseph and Mary Routh erected a 3,000-watt Whisper wind-generator on a
105-foot pipe tower at their home in Hovland. Before they began the
project they talked to the county. "We talked to the planning
director, Tim Kennedy. At that time, a permit wasn't needed because a
tower wasn't considered a structure."
The Routh's also met with their neighbors. "When we were
contemplating the project, we talked to neighbors 1/4 mile away to find
out what their concerns were."
A step that might have helped Medora Woods, who may now face a battle to
complete construction of her wind generator tower. Herbst and several
other residents plan to ask the Tofte Town Board for a moratorium on
wind generation towers on the lakeshore at the next town meeting on
March 8. "I'd like to see a moratorium while the county looks into
this. All Cook County residents should have a chance to have their
say," said Herbst. Voice your opinions on the Message
Board.
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