Voters cast ballots on January 31. At press time on February 2, the
Duxbury Town Clerk's office was closed due to snow and Town Clerk Ken
Scott was unavailable to verify details of the vote.
The Duxbury Select Board and Planning Commission brought forth the wind
turbine amendment in response to a citizen petition. The modifications
were in response to a petition presented on December 30, 2009.
Wind turbines that feed into the electrical grid are regulated by the
Vermont Public Service Board using the Town Plan as a guide.
Off-the-grid turbine projects are regulated at the local level. Prior to
these amendments, the town's zoning ordinance did not speak to wind
power at all.
The newly passed amendments establish which zones in the town are
appropriate for wind turbines and also detail review conditions. The new
language requires a town permit for any wind project not reviewed by
the state. It also allows wind turbines as conditional or permitted uses
in all districts of the town, except the high elevation ecological
reserve lands district and the wetland subdistrict.
The amendments establish a height exemption for wind turbines and also
increase the maximum allowable chimney height from 35 to 40 feet. In all
the district, where turbines are allowed in the town, those taller than
130 feet are considered conditional uses requiring DRB approval.
The original petition as received by the town would have made wind
turbines up to 130 feet a conditional use in the town's ecological
reserve lands districts and the planning commission balked at that as it
was inconsistent with Duxbury's Town Plan which prohibits structures of
any kind and limits uses to ag, forestry and other low-intensity
activities in that district.
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