County approves revised wind tower ordinance

Wind power generators for individual use can now be installed in Whitman County through a standard building permit process after county commissioners Monday approved a new residential wind ordinance. Vote on the tower approval was 3-0.

Prior to Monday’s approval of the new ordinance, a conditional use permit was required for all towers that exceeded 40 feet in height. The conditional use process meant applicants underwent a hearing before the county’s board of adjustment which could set conditions and restrictions for each site.

Some non-commercial towers have already been installed through the conditional use process.

Residential wind towers are defined as a turbine set-up that is no more than 125 feet high at the top of the blade radius. Production rate limit is 100 kilowatts.

The ordinance sets limits on height and the number of towers according to the size of the proposed site.

Approval of the ordinance, which was prepared through the council planning commission over an 18-month span, means wind generators will be permitted on lots of at least one-half acre. Towers must be set back 1.2 times their height from neighboring structures and public roadways.

The final version of the ordinance approved Monday was revised to accommodate concerns expressed by residents at a public hearing earlier this month.

Residents of the Sunshine housing cluster east of Pullman told commissioners the ordinance did not adequately protect neighboring property owners from noise, particularly in the high-density cluster zones.

Under the finalized code, personal towers installed near homes in the county’s agricultural district will have to follow state residential noise standards, instead of state agricultural noise limits. That means towers can not produce daytime noise that exceeds 50 decibels of sound at the neighbor’s site.

The ag limit is 75 decibels.

Sound levels will be determined by the manufacturer’s specifications, Alan Thomson, county planner, explained. However, installations with multiple towers would still have to meet the 50 decibel limit at a neighboring residence.

The finalized ordinance allows one 60-foot tall monopole tower that produces no more than five kilowatts of electricity on lots between one-half acre and 1.5 acres.

Two 75-foot monopole turbines with a 10 kilowatt maximum output each can be installed on lots of 1.5 to two acres.

Property from two to five acres can have two 100-foot towers that put out 10 kilowatt max each. The structures can be posted as monopoles, with guy wires or as lattice towers.

Properties over five acres can have two turbines that stand 125 feet with a 100 kilowatt max power output. One additional wind turbine can be erected on a parcel for every acre over five, which means three towers could be erected on a six acre parcel, four could be built on seven acres, and so on.