NEWBURYPORT — For Councilor Greg Earls, the recently passed law that regulates the creation of wind turbines in the city needs another look.
Earls filed a notice for Monday's City Council meeting asking his fellow councilors to start a discussion that will look again at the wind turbine ordinance, including dimension, notifications and site suitability studies.
Councilors can choose to direct Earls' request to a subcommittee for review or not act on it at all.
After councilors passed the ordinance in May, one business owner in the city received permission to put up a wind turbine on his property. Mark Richey, owner of Mark Richey Woodworking, was granted approval to construct a 292-foot-high turbine in the industrial park.
A group of neighbors in the Back Bay Neighborhood Association is fighting the move, and several have filed an appeal of the city's approval of a special permit.
Despite a decision pending on the appeal, Richey is proceeding with his plans and said recently he plans to put up his turbine during the week of Jan. 6.
The wind turbine ordinance was drafted to encourage the use of the alternative power source for businesses in the city, but also to guide how they are built.
The 13-page document details the guidelines for construction of the turbines: the design, the environmental standards, the locations and its distance from residential zones — a 300-foot buffer. The ordinance is only for construction of turbines in the industrial zones, not residential.
To build a turbine under the proposed zoning, the applicant needs a special permit.
In his brief letter to fellow councilors, Earls stated there is a "public safety concern affecting the health and welfare of our citizens with respect to industrial wind turbines" over 100 feet high. Earls said he will supply further information, backing up his claims, to councilors Monday.
"This is just to start a conversation," Earls said. "It's worth looking into again."
The councilor did vote in support of passing the ordinance last spring.
"I worked with the best information I had at the time; I think we all did," Earls said.
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