At the Nov 18 Council meeting, the wind turbine ordinance that had been in review for many, many months finally had it's day for consideration. The Council, by a 8-1 vote, approved the ordinance that will enable residents to have a wind turbine under specific conditions.
 
An article in the Dallas Morning News that ran a couple days before the meeting had good information on the ordinance and gave it perspective in comparison to some other cities.
 

From the Dallas Morning News, Nov 16:

Garland considers ordinance on residential wind energy devices

11:31 AM CST on Sunday, November 16, 2008
By FRANK TREJO / The Dallas Morning News
ftrejo@dallasnews.com

A new chapter in home energy may be blowing in the wind for some communities.
 
Garland is the latest North Texas city considering a zoning ordinance aimed at regulating wind energy devices that generate power for residential use. The measure is on Tuesday's council agenda.
 
Other cities, including Grand Prairie, Waxahachie and Oak Point, already have such ordinances.
 
Residential wind energy devices are rare in urban areas and may be too expensive or impractical for many homeowners. But city officials say they want to make sure rules are in place for the day when wind energy devices become more commonplace.
 
Falling oil prices recently prompted Dallas billionaire T. Boone Pickens to put on hold his plans for a massive wind farm in West Texas that would serve urban areas. But industry representatives say interest in wind power remains high. And that interest is only expected to grow as energy costs increase and more people want to go green to lessen their impact on the environment.
 
Ron Stimmel, small wind advocate for the American Wind Energy Association, described interest in wind energy as "skyrocketing," with about 10,000 small wind systems sold in the United States last year – about 1,000 of those for home use.
 
In Garland, where the issue has been debated for about two years, concerns about unsightly towers and safety have caused delays. Some residents fear towers could crash onto their properties during extremely bad weather, even though supporters say the devices are made to withstand the strongest of winds.
 
"We believe the time is right," Garland Mayor Ronald E. Jones said of the city's ordinance. "We believe we can reach an agreement that protects citizens and addresses the concerns of aesthetics, functionality, minimum intrusion into neighborhoods and above all, safety."
 
[More]
 

 
UPDATE: Comments closed to block spam hits.
 

1 comment

Comments:

Comment from: Sara M Garcia [Visitor]

Good for you. Good for Garland.

11/25/08 @ 11:16

Comments are closed for this post.