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Land Use Planning

Wind Energy Technical Assistance

Is your town considering local regulations for wind energy facilities?  If so, the Maine State Planning Office, in partnership with the state’s regional planning organizations, is offering technical assistance on this topic at no cost to municipalities. 

  • Professional Land Use Planning Assistance
    Upon request from the municipality, your regional planning organization will provide basic technical assistance with the Maine Model Wind Energy Facility Ordinance.  Regional planners are available to answer questions about the Model Ordinance and to help local officials understand how it can be adapted for use with current local ordinances.*
  • Maine Model Wind Energy Facility Ordinance
    The Model Ordinance offers an example approach to local regulation of wind energy development and is provided for review, reference and consideration by the municipalities.  There is no state mandate to adopt the Model Ordinance. (Microsoft Word 242KB, PDF 200KB)
  • Guidebook 
    This companion Guidebook elaborates on certain aspects of the Model Ordinance and is designed to help municipal officials, citizens and prospective wind energy permit applicants better understand and interpret it.  The final draft** of the Guidebook is now available. (PDF 361KB)

We hope your community will avail itself of these resources, as needed, and that they will prove to be of help to you.

For more information, contact Phil Carey at the Maine State Planning Office.

*Please note that the Model Ordinance provisions for the control of noise from large wind energy facilities (Type 2 and Type 3) is directly based Department of Environmental Protection standards and that some technical questions regarding those standards may need to be referred to that department.

**The draft Guidebook we are now providing is very nearly our final product.  The primary change we still expect to make will be to add a sound measurement methodology for  Type 1 (i.e. “small”) facilities.  Our goal is to provide practical sound measurement instructions that can be carried out locally using simple and relatively inexpensive equipment. 

 

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