The Albemarle Planning Commission gave the thumbs-up to windmills, Fania Gordon reports for Charlottesville Tomorrow. In a unanimous vote, they directed staff to come up with an ordinance to let people put up small-scale windmills to generate power. County engineer Mark Graham explained that the conflict will come from wanting to preserve viewsheds and trees, but also wanting to generate sustainable energy. (For a windmill to be useful, it’s got to be above the treetops, whether by making it tall or chopping down some trees.) And four members of the public attended, all speaking out in favor of allowing wind energy in Albemarle. There’s no law in place yet, but there’s a consensus that they need to move towards allowing windmills. The next step is to massage a proposal from county staff into something that’s politically tenable, which will likely come in the next few months.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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“(For a windmill to be useful, it’s got to be above the treetops, whether by making it tall or chopping down some trees.) ” This statement was made by a county staffer. I just watched a taped presentation on PBS discussses Schwazenegger’s energy plans for California. In it Ed Begley, Jr. had a wind turbine on his roof he was standing beside and it looked around 10 to 11 feet tall. His next door neighbor, Bill Nye (the Science Guy) said he had ordered one. It was reported that the turbine cost around $3000, which isn’t bad since stainless steel refrigerators can cost between $2,000 – $5,000.
Unfortunately, I keep getting the impression that the county is mixing discussions of wind farms with individually owned wind turbines. Again, I hope the county opens up the process to encourage the vendors of the latest technology in this field to contribute to the discussion. It is impossible for the staff to keep up with the latest technology when it has so much else to do.
Cville Eye: how tall were the trees right around Begley, Jr.’s house?
What is a viewshed?
What you can see. Like a watershed, but less important.
Was that the kilowatt ours program?
California is mostly desert, so probably no big trees near Ed Begley unless he was up in the mountains. I can’t remember that scene.
I have looked into wind turbines and the rooftop models are popular in England, they don’t require as much open space. The large ones require 1 acre of land according to the manufacturers.
@Chris, I coulcn’t tell because he has a one story house and the shot was really tight.
I’m glad to know the county’s open to alternative energy, but according to a Department of Energy wind resources map, there really isn’t enough wind here to be cost-effective, which is surprising… sure seems windy lately.
http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_maps_none.asp
Anybody know if this is correct?
It’s not quite right, though that’s not the DoE’s fault—their map just isn’t detailed enough. As I wrote about this a few weeks ago:
But it’s true that much of Albemarle isn’t a great place for cost-effective wind power.