Libertyville Resident Wants Tighter Wind Turbine Regulation Passed

Residents who live near a wind turbine in Libertyville had hoped to hear an outcome Tuesday when the Village Board was set to act on a proposed change to an ordinance regulating wind turbines.

They were, however, disappointed.

Village trustees approved a sttlement agreement relating to the wind turbine on Aldridge Electric Inc., 844 E. Rockland Road, but deferred making a motion on a proposed ordinance change to a future Committee of the Whole meeting so they could discuss the issue further. .

In 2009, several residents living near the wind turbine filed suit to stop Aldridge Electric from operating its wind turbine on its property. The group has tentatively resolved the suit with Aldridge and the company has agreed to limit the hours of operation of the wind turbine from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and subject to the standards which were in force at the time that the wind turbine was erected. 

Despite the agreement to limit hours of operations, some residents want the tighter wind turbine regulations proposed by the Plan Commission passed.

The wind turbine “was an inferior piece of equipment with an inferior ordinance,” said Gary Newell, who lives near the wind turbine. “The Plan Commission has tightened up (the ordinance) to the point where if you are going to do it, you need to do it right, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Mayor Doesn't Want Ordinance to Prohibit Wind Turbines

Newell is part of Citizens for the Protection of Libertyville, a group that has been fighting to regulate the wind turbine’s use. .

Laurie Renz, another resident who lives near the wind turbine, wonders what Mayor Terry Weppler's intention is in deferring making a motion.

"What could his purpose possibly be to defer approving the ordinance?" Renz said during a phone interview Thursday. "Is that an ordinance we would have approved? No, it was a compromise."

Mayor Weppler says he recommended deferring making a motion because he would like trustees to have more time to discuss the issue.

“The Plan Commission spent eight months on this, don’t you think it deserves more than five minutes by the board?” Weppler asked during Tuesday’s Village Board meeting. “I am concerned that because of a wind turbine — while Mr. Aldridge will never admit it — that was defective from Day One, we are acting now to prohibit something that potentially could be good for the village.”

Proposed Ordinance Changes

In January, the Plan Commission started to get input on the village’s Electric Power Facilities ordinance. The hearings concluded Aug. 8, and resulted in recommendations that the ordinance be changed to include the following differences:

• Special Use Permit. A special use permit be required for installation of any building-mounted wind turbine or tower-mounted wind turbine in any of the village’s zoning districts.

• Sound. The maximum sound level for wind energy facilities be decreased from 60 decibels at residential property lines to 35 decibels during the hours of 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. and 40 decibels between the hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

• Height. Building-mounted wind turbines be allowed up to a height of 15 feet above the highest point of the building structure, but in no case would the height exceed the maximum permitted height of the principal structure. Tower-mounted wind turbines would not exceed a height of 125 feet.

• Location. Tower-mounted wind turbines would be allowed only in nonresidential districts. Tower-mounted wind turbines would be prohibited from locating on any property within a nonresidential zoning district that abuts a properties zoned for residential use.

A date has not been set yet, but village trustees will discuss the text amendments at an upcoming Committee of the Whole meeting.

“My personal opinion is that this ordinance in essence prohibits wind turbines,” Weppler said. “If that’s what we want to do, then that’s what we should do. But I think it’s a sham to say here’s a wind turbine ordinance.”

Related Articles:

• Guide to Libertyville’s Wind Turbine Issues