Windmills Deal LITH Planning and Zoning A Blow

The Lake in the Hills Planning and Zoning Commission wrestled with windmills in the village Monday.  After a two-hour hearing they decided to go back to the drawing board. Literally.

Architect Bradley Epier said, "I'll be one of the first adopters to put one of these on my property."

He told Commissioners, however, he couldn't figure out proposed regulations for  mounting a windmill on a home.  Village Development Coordinator Lynn Stevens had to draw pictures to explain it and Commissioners decided it might be a good idea to include some in the proposed windmill ordinance.

The bottom line remained that the top of a residential windmill in Lake in the Hills can't be more than 15 feet higher than a home's ridgeline.

Even that was too much for homewowner Frank Holley. Envisioning windmills sprouting from rooftops like mushrooms he said, "I can't believe it. You're going to invite controversy from every neighbor."

"I think a more logical stand would be not to put them up at all," Holley said.

Even though there aren't any windmill generators in Lake in the Hills yet, commissioners spent more than an hour trying to figure out how to keep abandoned windmills from falling apart or falling over.  They finally agreed on an inspection program but decided the language in the plan needed some retooling.

The Commission tabled the measure until it's next meeting Dec. 14.

In the pic:  The only windmill in Lake in the Hills is probably this one at the riding school on Pyott Road.  It's not an electrical generator but it's certainly picturesque.