Russ Steele
A regular reader send this over the email transom. The state Coastal Commission encourages California's seaside communities to embrace clean energy -- but it has to look good.
A regular reader send this over the email transom. The state Coastal Commission encourages California's seaside communities to embrace clean energy -- but it has to look good.
The regulatory agency has told a Santa Cruz County couple that a wind turbine planned for their new home in the Pleasure Point neighborhood is too tall. Suggesting it would add to the area's "visual clutter," the commission recommends the residents lower their proposed 35-foot-high, electricity-generating windmill, an idea the home's architect says is simply unworkable.The view is more important than saving the planet from excess energy consumption.
"In general, we do want to support this type of alternative energy, especially with the commission more recently concerned about climate change," said commission planner Katie Morange. "But at the same time, it can't come at the expense of coastal resources. What if every house started putting these up? What would that mean for the viewshed?"More details in the Santa Cruz Sentinel here.
