An apartment owner's plan to build a 60-foot wind turbine to provide power for his six units at 1282 Commercial St. stirred frustrations among his neighbors during a board of zoning appeals public hearing on July 8.

Joseph Fantasia agreed to reduce the height of the turbine to 53 feet after hearing comments from nearby homeowners about his design plans that include construction of a garage and a retaining wall.

Residents that spoke during the hearing generally said the turbine is not a good fit for the neighborhood which is zoned for business and residential use.

"Even the manufacturer (Bergey Wind Power) does not recommend the turbine be on a lot that is one acre," said David Yang, a Commercial Street resident. "Mr. Fantasia's lot is smaller than one acre."

Fantasia's property has four units inside the apartment complex.

"Other elements of the site the manufacturer noted are the trees on the site," Yang said. "The proposed height of the turbine does not fit with the manufacturer's recommendation."

Commercial Street resident Kathleen Walsh said she fears the turbine's rotating blades would make too much noise.

"I'm concerned about the noise," she said. "My house is not far away."

A school department memo stated concerns about the turbine being located too close to the playground at Pingree Primary School.

"Would the children's play area be in the zone if it toppled over," stated the document.

Fantasia said the turbine would not pose a danger to children if he reduced the height of the device.

"At our last hearing, I asked about the height and it was said if I could move it 40 feet it would not be an issue," Fantasia said. "If I moved it 40 feet it would be located 50 feet away from the topple zone and be near a wooded area."

Fantasia said he is willing to reduce the height of the turbine to 53 feet to accommodate the concerns of residents.

Some neighbors questioned his plan for a two-car garage at the site.

"Why is he building the garage," said Margaret Raser, a Commercial Street resident. "The real question is it zoned for residential or commercial."

Fantasia said he intends to use the garage to store his property.

"I have 12 parking spaces on the property," Fantasia said. "It (garage) is for storage."

Board member Chuck Golden said the garage cannot be used for storage

"Rod Fuqua, (principal town planner) said that is not allowed and you said you understand," Golden said.

Fantasia said his original application did not have the 12 parking spaces on it.

"If you look at the original plan I did not have 12 outside parking spaces on it," Fantasia said. "Those spaces are for the units."

Weymouth Planning Director James Clarke said he would have to get clarification about whether the garage is an acceptable use at the location.

"There are times we have an applicant come and count a garage as additional space," Clarke said. "There are 12 parking spaces shown with the garage. I've not talked with Rod about this."

He said the site is a B-2 or business district that includes residential and commercial use.

"I'm reluctant to guess at what Rod Fuqua said," Clarke said. "It is clear that the garage is needed for the required parking. He is now showing 12 parking spaces."

Clarke said he would seek clarification from Fuqua about whether the garage can be used for storage or parking.

"I'm recommending we take this under advisement," Clarke said when discussion about the proposed garage ended.

Fantasia is additionally seeking to put a retaining wall within a 20-foot setback near the boundary of the Pingree School.

The board has to approve a variance to allow the barrier.

A school department memo voiced no comments about the retaining wall and there were no objections given by residents to the structure during the hearing.

The board voted to continue the hearing until July 29 at7 p.m. for further evaluation.