With size and health impacts of potential wind turbines in the county, as well as proposed setbacks, the top concerns Wednesday during a special meeting of the County Planning Commission, the wind turbine portion of the county's proposed tall structures ordinance is proving to take priority over communication towers. ...The wind turbine debate, as well as the ensuing moratorium and proposed ordinance, was sparked by a wind farm of 4.5 megawatts for 33 acres on Golden Farm Road in the Down East community of Bettie, which would consist of three turbines at more than 300 feet tall. During the public comment portion of the meeting, the planning commission heard from people who have attended nearly every county meeting regarding wind turbines and the proposed ordinance while only two residents from the western end of the county spoke.

When Joseph Betz of Cape Carteret bought property near Bogue Field, he moved into his home expecting to hear the sound of military aircraft flying overhead. That was his choice. But Betz said the Golden Wind Farm project proposed for a community in Down East Carteret County would be an imposition for which residents haven't asked. "For the people down there, it is not an existing condition," he said. ...Betz said the proposed plans by Nelson and Dianna Paul of Raleigh could put turbines of 350 feet or more, which he described as "monstrous," in the middle of the community. "This is not a couple of hundred-foot windmills; these are massive structures," he said.