White Pines Wind Farm, a subsidiary of BP Alternative Energy, has applied for a special land use permit with the U.S. Forest Service to place 20-28 wind turbines, each 420 feet tall, in the forest north of Forest Trail. The road leads from U.S. 31 to the Lake Michigan Recreation Area. Huron-Manistee National Forest spokesman Ken Arbogast said the number of wind turbines depends upon further investigation by the company and the forest services. "Basically it will depend on how many they need to make the project economically viable," Arbogast said.

Mark McConnell is close, but not close enough. He owns 3.44 acres of property and wants to install a 51-foot wind turbine. Unfortunately for McConnell, his property happens to fall in Presque Isle Township, where 4 acres are required and turbines can only be 40 feet high.

The ordinance allows wind towers of up to 30 feet in residential and open space zones. Anything taller, up to 60 feet, in those zones would require a special-use permit from the Planning Commission. In commercial and office zones, towers of up to 45 feet are allowed. Anything taller, again with a maximum of 60 feet, requires a permit.

In a 3-2 vote Aug. 7, Elbridge Township officials approved a zoning amendment to allow for wind turbine generators. ...The move wraps up a whirlwind of activity in the township over the last six weeks. Michigan Wind LLC in conjunction with John Deere Wind Energy proposes a $150 million, 30 turbine generator wind farm for the western side of the township on a north-south line approximately one-half mile east of 116th Avenue. The units would be owned and operated by John Deere Wind Energy.

Michigan's Thumb sprouted the first on-shore commercial wind farm last year. Are windmills over the water next? Saginaw Bay would sport the state's first offshore windmills under a plan by Steve Smiley, the self-described stepfather of wind power in Michigan.

By Friday, Taylor expects to review the latest data from a pair of 50-foot-tall meteorological towers in the city's north and south ends to determine if the city will move ahead on a $3 million plan to install up to five wind turbines as early as next year. The towers, at the northwest corner of Monroe and Ecorse and at Racho near Interstate 75, have been recording wind speed, direction and temperature since installed in August and October.

The DeWitt City Council doesn't expect a lot of wind turbines to be raised in the next month or so, but that didn't stop it from placing a 90-day moratorium on the construction of the structures, said city administrator Brian Vick. After participating in a planning and zoning training session at Michigan State University last month, Vick said he and other city officials are trying to keep ahead of the curve in regards to renewable energy.

A 197-foot tall meteorological tower would have a 380-foot diameter footprint and measure wind speed, duration and other information to determine whether an industrial grade wind turbine should be installed on Windmill Island Gardens. DeZwaan windmill is 125 feet tall. The island has its own zone tied to a fizzled-out plan for a village there with homes, businesses and other amenities. The zoning there would allow a structure up to 160 feet tall. The Holland Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance to allow the 197-foot tower Thursday, July 24.

They were made by more than 80 construction workers who have come to the Ubly area to build the Noble Thumb I Windpark, a project of Connecticut-based Noble Environmental Power. The prints lead to 46 holes that have been dug in farm fields in Bingham and Sheridan townships, where the wind usually blows about 15 mph. Each hole will be the site of a 1.5-megawatt General Electric wind turbine, towering more than 300 feet over the skies of Huron County. The development, being constructed by RMT WindConnect of Wisconsin with local and out-of-state contractors, should begin spinning later this year, officials say. It's southeast of the Harvest Wind Farm, a 32-turbine park constructed last year near Elkton by John Deere Wind Energy.

The manager of Land Use Informatics at the Michigan State University's Land Policy Institute cautioned local officials and residents last week about signing and zoning away their land, saying wind developers are eyeing agricultural areas such as the Thumb in the same manner 49ers did during the gold rush. "And there's an awful lot of people selling shovels," said Charles McKeown on Wednesday during a four hour-long Lake Township Planning Commission meeting at the Sleeper State Park's Outdoor Center.

That moratorium - which was adopted in March - was created so the planning commission would have time to study issues dealing with siting, noise affects, health concerns, possible property value decreases and other problems the board fears could arise if not properly addressed in the township's ordinance, said Lake Township Clerk Valerie J. McCallum. "If a land use has the potential to disrupt one person's life in the community, the township should spend the time and money to do what is in the best interests of the community," reads the township's March 31 minutes which included the discussion and adoption of the moratorium. ...Before the planning commission writes a wind ordinance, there still are some questions that need to be answered, McCallum said. Those questions left to be answered include (1) what effects, if any, would wind turbines have on existing property values within the township, and (2) what possible effects, if any, would the turbines have on the health of the citizens living in proximity to any turbines.

Township Clerk Stephanie VanSickle said that township officials will not have to have any direct votes on the wind farm project. However, the township will make modifications to its zoning ordinance to take care of land use issues created by the large turbine towers. VanSickle said that township officials have not received much negative reaction to the wind project since it publicly surfaced last month.

"This is not your grandfather's windmill," Sweikhardt said of the turbines. He emphasized the necessity for each farmer to have a lawyer look at his or her wind contract before signing. ...The specific legalities are something to consider, as the placement of a potentially 320-foot windmill in the middle of an apple orchard doesn't solely affect the land upon which the turbine sits. Neighbors could feel the affect with land vibrations, the throwing of ice build up by the turbine in the winter and the shadows it casts in the summer. "People don't understand some [turbines] are going to be taller or as tall as the highest building in Grand Rapids," attorney Cliff Bloom said.

Farmers facing pressure to lease their land to competing wind energy companies are hearing a stern message: Get a lawyer. "I want people to know what they're getting into," a Michigan State University professor of agriculture told more than 100 people Tuesday who turned out for a presentation by a farmers' advocacy group. "I'm not anti-wind," David Schweikhardt, a lawyer and expert on wind energy, told farmers and officials from at least six townships. "I'm anti-ignorance."

On June 12 the township voted to adopt a resolution to put a meteorological wind turbine on the Shepard farm, 12089 Phelps Road, Sparta Township. The turbine will test the wind on the ridge for about a year, according to Bonnie Robinson, Sparta Township Clerk. If the wind and environment proves to be an ideal system, the township is looking to put together a proposal that will allow anyone to have a wind turbine, "even if you want to put the roof of your house," Robinson said. Iberdrola Renewables, the leading worldwide wind energy company, is working with farmers and the Sparta Township government to put up the turbines.

The historic DeZwaan windmill at Windmill Island Gardens could soon have a neighbor. In what may be the first step toward development of a wind turbine at the downtown attraction, city officials are discussing placing a nearly 200-foot pole northwest of the windmill to collect wind and other weather information. ...Current city ordinances limit the height of a pole to 165 feet, and such poles require a conditional use approval.

The Township Board made progress in setting rules for wind turbines. The board approved an ordinance regulating meteorological evaluation towers, which measure wind and collect other data to determine the practicality of installing electricity-generating wind turbines. The Planning Commission is working on an ordinance for the wind turbines.

To deal with possible new requests, the Planning Commission will look at a proposed ordinance governing wind energy systems. Currently, wind energy systems are allowed only as an accessory use and may be no more than 15 feet tall. Planning director Terry Schweitzer said those rules really limit the use of any wind system. The city has received inquiries for wind systems ..."We have seen one industrial business interested, but they would be hamstrung with our current regulations," Schweitzer said.

A meteorological tower and wind-metering equipment could be in the air within days, said the chairman of a local start-up company organizing a power-generating venture. Several individuals put up money to buy a 60-meter tower after plans to install wind meters on a cellular telephone tower east of Blissfield were shelved, said Larry Gould, chairman of Great Lakes L.L.C. The tower and metering equipment have been delivered, he said, and could be set up within days. It will be raised at a leased site in Ogden Township off Thompson Highway south of Weston Road, he said. "The committee is getting anxious. They want to see something up and recording the wind," Gould said.

A draft ordinance that would allow wind turbines for energy production is one step closer to getting the "green" light in Norton Shores. During a work session Tuesday night, the city council gave administrators the nod to have the planning commission review the ordinance, which could be adopted this summer. If the ordinance is approved, residential and commercial turbines would be allowed to operate inside the city for the first time. Right now, the city's zoning books do not specifically address turbines, so they are not allowed, said Community Development Director Dick Maher. ...Maher said the purpose of the ordinance is to give residents and businesses the ability to install turbines while giving them rules to follow. He said "a couple businesses in town" have inquired about whether they could use a turbine to offset energy costs.