HOME > NEWS & PRESS > NEWS ITEM Resident says municipalities should be wind-power friendlyShareRepublican Herald (PA) BEURYS LAKE — An alternative energy dealer who installed a windmill outside a home in Barry Township last week is having trouble installing the same model on his own property in South Manheim Township. The problem, according Ed Woll, president of Control Alt Energy LLC, is a South Manheim Township zoning ordinance. “I was denied a building permit for a 45-foot tall wind generator for my own personal use due to a 35-foot height restriction in the township,” said Woll, who submitted a permit application to the township in late 2008. Woll is also concerned about municipalities that are planning to develop windmill regulations, including the City of Pottsville. He said people and businesses who have the space and can afford to put up these wind-driven electric generators should be encouraged to do so. “I’m trying to raise awareness because every time somebody wants to utilize wind energy or put in a wind generator or any form of renewable energy for that matter, they shouldn’t have to spend thousands of dollars to get a lawyer and all that stuff. These need to be a permitted use,” Woll said Thursday. Since summer 2008, Woll has been trying to get a permit to erect a 45-foot-high windmill near his home at 89 E. Deerview Drive in South Manheim Township. In a Jan. 28 letter, township Zoning Officer Steven W. Moyer said Woll couldn’t put up a 45-foot-tall tower due to the maximum height restriction in the zoning district in which he lives. “Your property lies within the A-Agriculture zoning district where the maximum height is limited to 35 feet,” Moyer said. Woll said he doesn’t want to put up a windmill which is only 35 feet high. “At 45 feet, you’ll have stronger winds. The taller you can go, the stronger the winds are,” Woll said. Woll said while he’s currently not pursuing any further course of action against the township, he hasn’t given up. “I joined the planning board in South Manheim Township in the hopes of educating the board, but it has been an uphill battle,” Woll said. Woll is encouraging the planning and zoning board to change the zoning laws to be more windmill-friendly. “We either need to put new verbiage into the existing ordinance or address it with a separate ordinance that focuses on residential windmills. Since I own the business, I would refrain from voting on the subject,” Woll said. Clair Moyer, chairman of the South Manheim Township Zoning Hearing Board, said Thursday night he thought Woll should be allowed to put up a 45-foot tall windmill. “I think he should be allowed to, but that’s just my opinion. If he can make his own power, it would be to his benefit,” Moyer said. Judy Epting, chairwoman of the South Manheim Township Supervisors, on Thursday didn’t want to offer an opinion on Woll’s situation until she received a recommendation from the planning and zoning board. “I think he should be allowed to put a 45-foot pole up. If he can make his own power, it would be to his benefit,” Moyer said. On March 7, Woll and Andy Wollyung, Pottsville, an installer and designer working part-time for Control Alt Energy LLC, put up a 45-foot high windmill in the backyard of a home at 28 Beurys Road belonging to Michael Wasilus. It is a 45-foot high Skystream 3.7 residential wind generator with three rotating blades, each 6 feet long. To install one will cost between $12,000 and $18,000, Woll said. Craig S.L. Shields, executive director of Barefield Development Corporation, Pottsville, said he’s looking at putting up a similar model at the Barefield Outdoor Recreation Complex at 823 Terry Reiley Way. Wasilus did not have any trouble with municipal officials when putting up his windmill. Barry Township doesn’t have a windmill ordinance, according to Raymond Fey, a Barry Township supervisor. Fey was impressed with the windmill on Wasilus’s property and said “I’m thinking about putting one up myself.” |
