County can't limit renewable energy options

I read with great interest the article by Wanda M. Holmes of the Gardnerville Ranchos on your opinion page of July 8.

Basically she was pointing out the lack of support by local government for renewable energy options for wind power. Although we commend local ordinances in regard to the safety of the public, I would like to remind everyone there is a Nevada State Statue (No. 278.0208) which states no local governing body can unreasonably restrict homeowners from using sources of renewable energy.

This means if someone doesn't like the way the photovoltaic panels look, or solar hot water panels look, an association or local government cannot prohibit their use. Another section of this statute states that a local governing body cannot unreasonably restrict by requiring special use permits at a higher cost than a building permit.

Nor can they limit the actual height of the wind tower if it passes the rules for height and property size if that height limits the performance of the wind tower more than 10 percent. So if the requirement, for example, is 20 feet maximum and the performance of the wind tower is negatively affected by more than 10 percent that requirement is against the state statute (as long as safety is not an issue).

To quote Wanda: "Barring people from any alternative energy option other than solar power is a bad policy for this county and for our nation. We need to encourage everyone to utilize every option available to them. This country was founded on self-sufficiency. Taking away any options for becoming more self -sufficient is a big disservice to all of us.

Some of these unreasonable requirements by local governments are against the state law. Carson City recently passed their own ordnance for wind turbines after six months of struggling with the various entities on this issue.

The Carson City fathers, in their wisdom and lack of consideration for the public are requiring the color of the wind turbine to be black, gray, tan or similar beige tone. Many of our suppliers color their wind turbine blades white or a bright color so it is visible to the aviary population as a safety for them. Not having a manufacturers' color embedded into the blade at the factory forces the homeowner extra maintenance to paint and re-paint the blades - isn't this then becoming a prohibitively expensive requirement? Must the homeowner rent a crane to do this maintenance? Last I heard this is prohibitively expensive. (Another part of the ordnance requires that regular maintenance be performed by the homeowner to keep his equipment pristine)

To all of you who support renewable energy in all its forms, I urge you to participate in the local planning commission and board of supervisors for your county.

The "powers that be" need to know you support the use of renewable energy as long as it is safe for the homeowner and his neighbors. Your silence and apathy allows the governing bodies to make decisions that will negatively affect all of us. We at the Solar Store have supported renewable energy in all its forms and will continue to do so.

To apply another famous quote:

"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little." Edmund Burke

Leslie Medeiros is co-owner of the Solar Store in Carson City.