The Penn Forest Zoning Hearing Board met Thursday night to determine whether to grant a special exception to the township's building ordinance for a wind turbine.

After some debate, a motion was made to grant the special exception, which passed unanimously.

Stanley and Denise Nowicki were the first homeowners to approach the township for the exception since the new wind turbine ordinance was passed earlier this year.

Township zoning officer Joseph Steber said the ordinance was written to allow wind turbines, which he said are being heavily promoted by both the state and federal governments, but that it requires homeowners to apply for and receive a special exception from the zoning hearing board before a wind turbine can be erected. After that, he said, homeowners would be required to comply with all of the township's building ordinances during construction.

Solicitor Charles Smith asked many questions of the Nowicki's, all aimed at ensuring that the homeowners were aware of and had thus far complied with all aspects of the township's new ordinance.

Nowicki claimed that he had performed exhaustive research on wind turbines and had chosen to erect the same model currently in use in Tunkhannock Township. He provided photos of that turbine, which zoning hearing board chairwoman Audrey Nichols marked as evidence.

While there were questions about the noise level and the placement of the turbine in relation to property lines from homeowners with adjoining property, the only objector was Joan McKenna, a director for Towamensing Trails.

"We just want it on the record that Towamensing Trails is against it," McKenna said. "Can you imagine what the Trails would look like if everybody got one? There's almost 2,000 homes there. Can you imagine what 2,000 wind mills would look like?"

McKenna pointed out that the community had already put language in its architectural control committee rules that strictly forbid the erection of wind turbines.

Solicitor Smith asked Nowicki if he was a member of Towamensing Trails, to which he answered no.

"A lot of people are misled about (the possibility) of seeing these things in everyone's back yard," said Paul Montemuro, Penn Forest township supervisor chairman, from the audience. He pointed out that the township's ordinance required the turbine to be located 110 percent of its height in feet away from the nearest structure. Since most of the lots in Towamensing Trails are half acre lots "you won't see any on those half acre lots. You have to have, minimal, two-and-a-half to three-acre or better to make it work," he said.

Both Montemuro and Steber expect to see more wind power in the township. With future increases in utility costs already announced by PPL and other utility companies, Montemuro said, "you'll be paying 100 percent more for electricity in 10 to 15 years.

"Towamensing Trails, like some of the other developments, is getting in an uproar for no reason at all," Montemuro said. "(Turbines) can't fit it on those lots."

Township residents with standing to object would have 30 days to file an appeal to granting of the special exception.

Montemuro didn't seem surprised by the board's action.

"Clean and green," he said. "You can't stop that."