A week after the Washington County Quorum Court overturned the Planning Board's decision to disallow a conditional-permit for the Big Red Dirt Farm to convert its operation into a quarry, Planning Board members discussed the matter at their regular meeting.

County Attorney George Butler told board members Thursday that he has heard from attorneys for the surrounding property owners who oppose the quarry conversion that they will appeal the Quorum Court's decision to the 4th Circuit Court.

"You're out of it," he told the Planning Board members.

Planning Board member Robert Daugherty asked if appeals of the Planning Board's decisions would be appealed to the Quorum Court for now on, and Butler said they would.

"I really think they ought to be," Daugherty said.

The Quorum Court last Thursday voted 9-3 to overturn the Planning Board's Sept. 18 decision not to allow the conditional-use permit for the dirt farm to conduct more intensive extraction of limestone - basically to operate a quarry for the next 50 to 75 years.

That Sept. 18 Planning Board decision was appealed by the dirt farm's owners, William G. Sweetser and A. Brad Johnson, to the 4th Circuit Court. Fourth Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay then remanded the appeal to the Quorum Court.

Daugherty and Planning Board member Larry Walker both commented that they agreed with the board's decisions being appealed to the Quorum Court. Daugherty said it gives people who do not have the money to go to court a chance to fight Planning Board decisions.

Wind turbine regulations

Members of the Planning Board on Thursday heard an extensive wind research report with preliminary regulations from county planner Courtney McNair.

McNair emphasized in an interview following the meeting that these are very preliminary and it could be up to three months before the Planning Board decides to have Butler draft an ordinance on wind turbine regulations. Then, that ordinance would have to go through the County Services Committee, which, if it approved it, would be forwarded to the Quorum Court. So she said an ordinance is at least six months away at this point.

In January, the Planning Board approved conditional-use permit requests for meteorological towers to be placed on ridges in the southeast part of the county to determine the feasibility of productive wind turbines in those areas.

The permits were approved for Invenergy Wind Development, which is a Chicago-based company, to place the test towers on the property of Henry and Vickie Rankin, 16028 Sunset Road, and Lane and Robert Spears, 18687 Kilowatt Road. The nearest homes to these towers are 350 and 219 feet away, respectively.

The applicant is simply studying commercial wind development. Windmills convert wind power into electricity in wind farm operations. The company is leasing the land for the test towers.

The towers will be in place one to three years for meteorological monitoring. Planning Director Juliet Richey stated that company representatives think there is potential for significant wind resources in this area. The towers will test the theory.

This brought up the issue of what kind of regulations to put in place for wind turbines. McNair has spent the past few months looking at ordinances in other areas and researching regulations, as well as common issues associated with wind power.

Reviewed Thursday by the Planning Board was a list of preliminary recommendations of issues that may need to be addressed in a commercial wind power ordinance.

Planning Board members also offered their input on these recommendations and issues. Some of the recommendations are still being researched.

There are several factors being looked at - from the color of the turbines to their height to setbacks from other property.

The staff already has recommended that the color of the turbines be "nonreflective and unobtrusive," meaning that it generally blends in with the surrounding environment.

Staff members are not recommending a restriction on the height of commercial wind towers.

As for some of the visual concerns, Walker said he would like to see the burying of turbine transmission lines. This was something not specifically recommended by staff.

Staff is recommending that the noise from a commercial wind tower does not exceed 50 decibels. McNair said this noise level is similar to that in a quiet restaurant, office interior, normal conversation or similar to normal noises within most homes. She said Invenergy officials agree with the 50-decibel level.

Staff is recommending that the commercial wind developer upgrade public roads that will be affected by the development before construction is begun, and also is recommending that the developer be responsible for repairing damage to roads caused during construction or maintenance of the towers.

Walker cautioned against going overboard on this regulation.

Richey said staff is concerned about maintaining roads a commercial wind developer would use with large equipment.

"We don't want them tearing up existing county roads at the cost of the general taxpayer," she said.

It is unclear at this point how much fencing will be required, but staff is leaning against not requiring fencing around each tower.

As for setbacks, the recommendation for the greatest setback is between the towers and nonparticipating primary structures. That setback recommendation is two and a half times the height of the tower. This would be the case unless a waiver is signed by surrounding property owners.

Staff is recommending that the setback between the towers and adjacent property lines be 1.1 times the height of the tower to make sure the "fall zone" is completely contained within the property site. This too, would be the case unless a waiver is signed by the property owners.

Also discussed were environmental factors. Federal and state regulations will come into play concerning natural resources and wildlife issues, including how the turbines might affect endangered species of bats.

Planning Board member Kenley Haley asked about how the landscape would be affected, specifically, the clearing of trees.

Richey said there may have to be some clearing of trees for the turbines, but she said many of the ridges on which they may be located are already cleared.

One to 2 acres of land will be required for each tower, staff said.