Turbine rules adopted in LeRay

Town of LeRay residents who want to tap into wind power have a new set of rules to follow.

The Town Council passed a local law to regulate noncommercial wind turbines at its meeting Thursday. Turbines will be allowed in agricultural/rural residential and agricultural development zones in the town.

"That's a significant amount of land that you need to have one," community development coordinator Jessica L. Jenack said.

Turbines must be set back at least 11/2 times their height from overhead utility or transmission lines, property lines, homes, travelways including public roads and parking lots, and other wind turbines. The new law limits the units to 100 feet and 50 kilowatts.

The center of the turbine's base cannot be closer than 1,000 feet to the New York Audubon Society's Important Bird Areas and other officially recognized priority habitat areas, including any state Wildlife Management Area. They also cannot be closer than 500 feet to any state identified wetlands.

The law also has requirements to prevent wind turbulence created from existing structures. The lowest part of any horizontal blade must be 30 feet above the highest structure or tree within 250 feet.

Noise is also a concern with the units. Sound from a running turbine cannot be louder than 5 decibels above the ambient sound. As a comparison, the sound made by the rustling of leaves is about 10 decibels.

An owner would have to fix any damage to communications or damage from stray voltage.

At the discretion of the Planning Board, the owner might have to perform a full environmental review process. If a unit stops producing electricity, it must be taken down within a year.

Agricultural users receive exemptions on requirements for a sound analysis, environmental review process, setbacks from important bird areas, screening and turbine height limitations.