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A proposal to prohibit energy-producing windmills from being installed within 5 miles of any neighboring properties won tentative approval from the City Council Zoning Committee last week. Read more

A proposal to prohibit energy-producing windmills from being installed within 5 miles of any neighboring properties won tentative approval from the City Council Zoning Committee last week despite a warning from city officials it would essentially eliminate future development of wind farms anywhere on Oahu.

Councilwoman Heidi Tsuneyoshi introduced Resolution 19-305 in response to the outcry in the Kahuku community over the development of the Na Pua Makani wind-power project. AES Corp. has permits from the city for eight 568-feet, high-wind turbines that have already been installed and are expected to be operational by summer.

The wind turbines would generate up to 25 megawatts of electricity daily, or enough to power about 16,000 homes and at half the cost of burning oil. AES reduced the number of turbines from an initial 13 but increased the size of the turbines.

While many protesters say the wind turbines are too close to the community and bring detrimental health effects, AES there’s no evidence of that.

The nonprofit Keep the North Shore Country filed a petition to stop the project through the Zoning Board of Appeals and was subsequently joined by the Kahuku Community Association. A hearing on AES’s motion to dismiss the complaint is scheduled for April 9.

“The community of Kahuku has had serious concerns about the construction of windmills right behind homes, residences, farm dwellings and schools,” Tsuneyoshi told committee colleagues.

Her proposal would not affect the AES project but would “provide a little relief in the future to communities who have proposed windmill construction in their areas … that they don’t have to go through the same battles that the Kahuku community had to go through.”

The resolution instructs the Department of Planning and Permitting to draw up a bill to amend the Land Use Ordinance by requiring that any wind-power machines with a rated capacity of more than 100 kilowatts be set back a minimum of 5 miles from its own property line.

Acting Planning Director Kathy Sokugawa raised strong reservations about the resolution.

“Our preliminary work says the proposed 5-mile distance would essentially limit any property on the island” under DPP jurisdiction from hosting wind turbines, she said. Sokugawa noted it may allow wind farms on lands overseen by state agencies.

“There might be a legal issue by zoning out a particular use,” Sokugawa said. “That’s been found — in some other cases — illegal so we have to make provisions for them. But we can continue to look at that further if you pass this resolution.”

DPP raised additional concerns in a Dec. 9 letter to the Council, asking for evidence of a scientific basis for a 5-mile setback for wind machines and questioning how the limitation would reconcile with state and city policy goals of ending the use of nonrenewable energy sources by 2045.

The Hawaiian Electric Co. also submitted written testimony raising concerns the proposal might eliminate the potential for any new wind projects on Oahu. Rebecca Dayhuff Matsushima, director of Hawaiian Electric’s Renewable Acquisition Division, said “Oahu is approximately 600 square miles and a conforming property would have to be at least 78.5 square miles, plus the area for the wind farm.”

If the resolution passes the full Council, DPP could offer its own recommendation with a setback that’s smaller than 5 miles, or possibly “a different process” for meeting the concerns, Sokugawa said. Tsuneyoshi said she’s not wedded to a 5-mile setback and is willing to discuss the matter further with Sokugawa’s staff.

In the Legislature, House Bill 2188 requires wind-energy facilities on agricultural lands be set back at least 1 mile from farm dwellings or residences. The measure passed the House and is awaiting hearings to be scheduled in two Senate committees.