*Updated below with comment from Burlington Planning and Zoning Director David White and photos*
File this one under “alternative energy vs. historic preservation.”
Russ Scully (pictured, at left) installed the small wind turbine on his surf-themed restaurant, The Spot, to power his kitchen appliances and make a statement about renewable energy.
But Burlington city planners say the turbine is historically out of character on the gas-station-turned-café. In their estimation, it breaks the terms of his permit — and have slapped him with a violation notice that he is now appealing.
Scully won approval to erect the Honeywell-made turbine last year based on drawings of an early design. The turbine he installed was a newer model and came with “fins” that keep the turbine pointed into the wind to maximize energy production. City planners say the fins violate conditions of Scully’s approval and must be removed. Planners also cited The Spot for failing to to meet another condition of approval: that the sweeping, bat-wing-style canopy (pictured below the turbine) be “open” where the metal truss goes through it.
Scully and his contractor, Mike Gervais of Williston-based renewable energy company Yellow Brick LLC (pictured, at right), admit they should have secured necessary approvals for the fins but have appealed to the Development Review Board to keep them on.
In a 30-page report on the matter, planning staff recommend denial of The Spot’s appeal. Associate planner Mary O’Neil writes that the former Phillips Service Station, built in 1964, is a rare and excellent example of space-age, “exaggerated modern” roadside architecture that has been listed on the Vermont State Register of Historic Resources. The addition of the fins “detracts from the public’s ability to appreciate and understand the building,” O’Neil’s report says. While some may view the turbine as evidence of Burlington’s “fertile atmosphere” for alternative energy, O’Neil writes that having the turbine “immediately roadside and atop a historic building component is not ideal.”
A longtime surfer, Scully’s passion is wind sports (wind surfing, kite boarding), and he wants the restaurant to harness as much power as possible from wind. “You’d be surprised how much juice a toaster can suck up,” he says. “If we can capture some of that back, our margin will improve.”
The turbine, a Honeywell WT 6500, is a blade-tip production system, meaning its power is generated by the spinning blades, rather than the spinning hub. The 2.7-kilowatt turbine went up in December 2010 and generates enough juice to power a drink cooler (pictured) and all of the restaurant’s outdoor lighting. The Spot also has an 8-kilowatt solar-panel system on its roof. Because that system is net metered — meaning excess electricity is fed back into the grid — it went through a state permitting process and did not require city approvals.
In researching their appeal, Gervais said he found several historical examples of converted gas stations with bat-wing canopies that had “gaudy” signs sticking out the top — for Krispy Kreme, Oil n’ Go and other businesses. By comparison, Gervais argues that The Spot’s wind turbine is relatively innocuous and may even make people take notice of the bat wing when they otherwise would not have.
Scully adds: “It has eye-catching benefits that it didn’t have before.”
City planning staff disagree.
“The addition of the directional fins on the wind turbine significantly alter the appearance of the most prominent feature of this historic building, making it difficult for the public to make the visual connection between the appearance of historic signage and the new turbine, as was the submitted purpose,” writes O’Neil in the staff report. “The turbine as installed does not read as a substitute component for the original signage, but is a detractor from the merits of the building.”
The Spot’s appeal will be heard at the Development Review Board’s May 3 meeting.
**UPDATE**
David White, Burlington’s director of Planning and Zoning, explains why the city planning staff and the Design Advisory Board oppose the turbine with the fins attached.
“The design of that windmill was very different than what the DAB had recommended and staff had ultimately approved as part of their original permit,” he tells Blurt. “The windmill that was being proposed looked nothing like what’s there today. It was much finer, in terms of its appearance. It was less obtrusive.”
(Ed. note: Judge for yourself. Pictured below are the original conceptual drawing The Spot submitted to the city, and a picture of the turbine as it appears now.)
Structurally, White says he has concerns about how vibrations from the turbine could affect the canopy. White says staff and DAB members also question whether the turbine qualifies as “advertising” under the zoning ordinance.
“The ordinance is pretty restrictive when it comes to advertising features,” White says. “And this comes up because the applicant holds the franchise to sell these devices. Particularly, advertising features next to the road — we’re very restrictive about anything that moves and is distracting to the driver.”
White insists that City Hall, the zoning ordinance and Burlington’s master plan are all pro-renewable energy. He suggests there are other ways to keep turbines pointed into the wind that would be more agreeable to the city than the fins. But he adds, “It’s got to be the right thing in the right place. It needs to be in a location where it functions best. And that’s what’s going to drive our decision making. When it’s primary purpose is to attract attention and generate conversation, it becomes a little bit of a different issue and that’s not as important here.
“These things aren’t just quirky and fun to look at,” White says. “They actually serve a valuable purpose to our community and our society.”
If the Development Review Board denies The Spot’s appeal on May 3, White says the restaurant will have two options: install a wind turbine that “meets conditions of their permit” or appeal to Environmental Court. Later in the same conversation, however, White said that if The Spot agreed to take the fins down, city planning staff would likely endorse dropping the violation notice and letting the turbine remain in place.
Have your say. The DRB hears The Spot’s appeal on May 3 at 5:30 in Contois Auditorium at Burlington City Hall — and public comments are welcome at the meeting.
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This article appears in Apr 20-26, 2011.
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Ridiculous!!! Historic?! Come on. This is going way too far. The wind turbine is cool. Period. They could have just demolished the whole building and started with new. I think that they kept the canopy is cool. This is government intrusion taken too far!
Um, so wind turbines along a pristine mountain ridge are ok, but a tiny little turbine on a gas station in Burlington is not ok. Makes sense to me. NIMBY Anyone else think that “green” power don’t stand a chance at being a realistic alternative in this state? Anyone else now recognize why one of the defining issues of the Gov campaign (permit reform) was on the table? Of course Shummy didn’t want to talk about it and distracted voters with the abortion issue. Yup all is good in the utopia that is Vermont. Keep it clean keep it prisitine and for heaven’s sake don’t try to improve anything.
These planning and zoning boards are getting way too out of control. Their power trips are contagious. Burlington, South Burlington, Williston, Shelburne, etc. They don’t know when enough is enough. The point of these boards is to stop mcmansions, strip malls, out of place skyscrapers, plowing over cornfields for boxstores and making sure there is enough parking. Beyond that, they need to let business owners and property owners go about their business, for it’s the business owners and property owners that are making the economy humm. This whole thing is a farse.
First the state gets stupid with Clark,s sign in Underhill, so now as not to be outdone, Burlington has to prove we are the most stupid. A solution would be to put a picture of Bob Kiss’s grimacing face on the turbine and let it keep spinning in the wind, which would be what his terms as Mayor have been all about.
I am the most finicky person I know about architectural monstrosities- and I adore The Spot and the turbine windmill. Good grief. It’s a wonderful, inventive and yes, respectful use of a classic style. It is a thriving business that serves good food in a lovely atmosphere and builds community. If they can generate some energy too…better for all of us. Now, you want to talk architectural mistakes…take a walk over to Church Street. The pedestrian mall: Disneyfication and suburbanization of that street absolutely killed all its charm and visual appeal.
Nobody really cares about the historical nature of this building. Only the rare architect nerd is going to notice anything. It can be eye catching which is businesses need around here. But I don’t think any but these planners are even looking at it.
Take it easy on O’Neil. She’s just doing her job – which is to thwart folks who want to make reasonable improvements, become responsible stewards of existing properties, and make sure that the Planning & Zoning Dept. maintains leverage over as many aspects of our lives as possible. Every now and then they lose a battle, but most residents are in fear of doing anything that might involve them. That’s the kind interpretation. The unkind interpretation is that the folks in zoning harbor animosity towards the little folks who take risks and actually do things.
“…the renovated building with its funky “finned” wind turbine is the best thing that has happened to that section of Shelburne Road in two decades.” Well said, 1984! That funky finned wind turbine totally celebrates the “exaggerated modern” character of that cool building. Get your head out your butt, planners! These guys have fixed the place up, at long last. Huzzah!
You have GOT — I repeat GOT — to be kidding me. This is a belated April Fool’s joke, right? This is truly Kafka-esque. There is absolutely NOTHING of historic significance about an old 1960’s f—ing gas station. And if there is, these two guys didn’t do anything to hurt it by adding fins to the permitted wind turbine. The turbine is ok, but the turbine WITH FINS fins is not ok? Are you freakin kidding me? That’s a joke, right? How much of my freakin tax money went to the city planning dept.’s study of these fins in relation to the supposedly historic context of this freakin old abandoned gas sation? Didn’t Picard write an article a while back about this very same city planning person running amok with homeowners in Burlington who are just trying to modernize and maintain and weatherize their properties and getting slapped with fines because their new siding has “4-inch show” instead of “3-inch show”? What. The. F___. This is the type of complete and total idiocy that may have the perverse effect of leading to the abolishment of the planning department by taxpayers in revolt. I drive by that gas station twice a day each and every day and the renovated building with its funky “finned” wind turbine is the best thing that has happened to that section of Shelburne Road in two decades. Message to Burlington “planners”: shut up and leave these people alone. They pay your salary. They fixed up an eyesore.This statement by the planning dept. has got to be hands down the most damning piece of Ph.D.-inspired bureaucrat-speak nonsense I think I’ve ever actually read:”The addition of the directional fins on the wind turbine significantly alter the appearance of the most prominent feature of this historic building, making it difficult for the public to make the visual connection between the appearance of historic signage and the new turbine, as was the submitted purpose,” writes O’Neil in the staff report. “The turbine as installed does not read as a substitute component for the original signage, but is a detractor from the merits of the building.”What? WHAT? What the hell does that crap even actually mean? This state-sponsored drivel could turn even a thinking person into an Ayn Rand crusader. Heaven forbid somebody should take a crap-ass old abandoned gas station and turn it into something alive without the bureau-misfits at City Hall trying to stomp on it.Really? Really, Ms. O’Neill? Really? I am a member of “the public.” I’m not having a hard time “mak[ing] the visual connection between the appearance of historic signage and the new turbine.” What I’m having a hard time with is understanding what your gobbledegook means.My God. This can’t be real. I hope the city planners get the same smackdown by the court that they got with their 3-inch vs. 4-inch siding nonsense.
Mary O’Neil writes that having the turbine “immediately roadside and atop a historic building component is not ideal….The turbine as installed does not read as a substitute component for the original signage, but is a detractor from the merits of the building.”Are you kidding me? I can see slapping them with a fine because they changed the design after permitting, but what O’Neil is suggesting is outrageous. We don’t need the likes of her to protect ourselves from….ourselves. Fact is, Planning and Zoning with rather the building remain vacant than have it violate some subjective sensibility they hold in the name of preserving cultural artifacts. There are fights worth fighting, but is this one? Really, Mary? If this is an example of her work, how sad. Clearly, she takes her job very seriously, but I’ll point out that there are people like Scully who are out there creating jobs and contributing to our community in meaningful ways. Mary and her ilk are on the other side of progress, unable to parse cost versus benefit, reasonable versus trivial. I hope the commission slaps her wrist and reprimands her for wasting their time and the business owners time.