Michael Maring, chief of Carroll County’s Bureau of Permits and Inspections, issues permits to residents who want to place a wind turbine on their property.
In May, Carroll became the first county in the state to change its zoning codes to allow wind turbines.
Carroll’s ordinance limits turbines to 150 feet tall and no more than two on a property. They must be set back from property lines and utility wires by 20 feet more than the turbines’ heights.
Maring spoke with The Examiner about Carroll residents’ response to having wind turbines on their property.
Have you received a lot of interest from residents in wind turbines?
We probably had 14 to 20 apply for [a wind turbine], and some of them have been installed.
How tall are most of the wind turbines?
The general range of them is 30 to 55 feet, and we had one put on a farm that went up to 150 feet.
That hasn’t been constructed yet.
Is it mostly farmers who are interested in getting turbines because of the large amount of land they have, or is it anyone?
No, it’s mostly people who have land that is big enough to put one on, so [the wind turbine] doesn’t fall on anything, [and] people who want to offset the cost of electricity.
Have you had any setbacks or complaints from neighbors since Carroll has allowed turbines?
No, not at all.
Things are going all right.
