Looking to offset rising electricity bills, Marsha Vitow has a modern solution: installing Baltimore's first residential wind turbine on the roof of her Federal Hill rowhouse.
It's a logical move in a city whose mayor has pushed extra tree plantings, recycling and other issues on a "cleaner, greener" agenda, but Vitow has run into some old-fashioned problems. Decades-old zoning laws don't account for a wind turbine, and some of her neighbors say the eight-foot-tall contraption will hurt their rooftop views and their property values.
"This is about doing something good. There are always a few people afraid of change," said Vitow, who is scheduled to appear before the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals today for a variance to build above the 35-foot residential height limit. City officials, who routinely approve roof decks, antennas and additions, can't predict how it will go.
Residents of other cities, including Boston, San Francisco and Chicago, have successfully made the case for wind turbines. Still, there are only a handful of turbines because urban areas tend to have obstacles to the wind, according to Ron Stimmel, a spokesman for the American Wind Energy Association.
Generally, turbines work best when they are 30 feet above everything else and have few barriers within 500 feet, which isn't possible for a city rowhouse. But Stimmel said it's possible to power a city house with turbines now available, and the technology is evolving fast.
"There is a lot of public interest in such turbines, and they are getting approved," said Stimmel. "Still, I don't suspect it will be a huge trend in the cities. More people will opt for solar panels or buying renewable energy from the power company."
Vitow worked in building management for 30 years and introduced many green features to her facilities. She's tried to do the same at home. With water all around her house, she thought a turbine was a "no-brainer," even if no one is sure how much power can be generated.
Vitow's contractor, Todd Jones, was surprised to learn someone in Baltimore wanted a wind turbine. Jones, a project manager for Green Solutions of Maryland, mostly works in Western Maryland. But when he looked at wind maps and average wind speeds, and went on the roof near the Inner Harbor, it appeared to be sufficiently windy to generate a couple hundred kilowatt hours of energy a month - the average homeowner uses between 1,000 and 2,000.
