Weymouth — An apartment owner’s application to construct a 44-foot wind turbine to provide power for his six units at 1282 Commercial St. has been unanimously rejected by the board of zoning appeals.

“I don’t believe it is an appropriate use for the location,” Chairman Richard McLeod said before he joined his colleagues on Sept. 1 in rejecting a variance request from property owner Joseph Fantasia. “There is a school property line there.”

Fantasia’s property abuts Pingree Primary School.

Planning Director Rod Fuqua said that the turbine’s manufacturer, Bergey Wind Power, did not recommend having turbine on a lot that is less than one acre.

“We recommend one acre lot sizes because we promote tall towers which need a fall radius that does not cross property or power lines,” said Scott Merrick, a sales and customer service representative for Bergey, in an e-mail to the planning board that was reviewed by the zoning appeals board. “We also recommend this lot size due to the fact that tall towers can dominate a given landscape, especially if it is within close proximity to other residences.”

Some neighbors expressed uneasiness during recent public hearings about the proposed turbine toppling onto the school playground if it experienced structural failure.

The neighbors voiced additional concerns about noise being generated by the turbine blades.

Fantasia agreed during a recent hearing to relocate the turbine 40 feet away from the school’s property line.

He also agreed to reduce the device’s height to 44 feet in response to neighbors’ worries about unpleasant noise levels.

Merrick said that Bergey has received few complaints about excessive sound levels generated by rotating turbine blades.

“Our units are comparable to residential air conditioning units,” Merrick said.

In addition, the board rejected Fantasia’s request for a variance to construct a garage to store materials.

He said the garage is permissible at the site because the neighborhood is a B-2 (or business) district that allows residential and commercial use.

Fuqua said that having a garage for purposes other than allowing the apartment tenants to park in it was not detailed in Fantasia’s application.

“A garage for mixed use was not part of the original application,” Fuqua said.

He added that a proposal to have a garage for uses other than parking would require a public hearing to be held and a description of the plan would have to be advertised in local newspapers.

“It (a garage) has to be for residential use,” Fuqua said.

After the discussion concluded, the board unanimously denied Fantasia’s request for a variance to construct the garage.

“The applicant has not shown a hardship, and I recommend that we deny the (requested) permit,” said Robert Galewski prior to the vote.

 The board unanimously approved Fantasia’s request to construct a retaining wall within a 20-foot setback near Pingree.

Minutes before the board granted Fantasia a variance, Galewski said the barrier is an appropriate use for the site.