STEM Ed Announcement: Cape Cod Wind Turbine Visual Impact

["Mort Sternheim" <mort@k12s.phast.umass.edu>]

This is a UMass Amherst program
 Contact Information is below.
 ===========================
 
 
 
 A talk this week about offshore wind, hosted by the LARP
 Department...
 ______________________________
 
 
 Thursday February 9
 
 Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Speaker
 Series presents, 
 
 Development of Visual Impact Assessment Methodology for Wind
 Turbines in Cape Cods Ocean Waters
 
 Sharon Rooney, Cape Cod Commission
 4:00 pm - 105 Hills North, Procoppio Room, UMass Amherst
 
 
 Substantial debate surrounds development of offshore wind turbines
 in U.S. and state waters and few issues are more controversial than
 the visual impact of these facilities on scenic and visual
 resources. This session will focus on development of a Visual
 Impact Assessment (VIA) methodology by the Cape Cod Commission to
 assess the potential visual impacts of wind turbines in Cape Cod's
 ocean waters. The VIA process was created in response to the 2009
 Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan (OMP) that allowed development
 of up to 24 community-scale wind turbines in Cape Cods planning
 area (100 total statewide). The states OMP charged regional
 planning agencies with determining appropriate scale for renewable
 energy facilities and to create regional regulatory review
 standards for renewable energy and other uses allowed by the OMP.
 The session will include an overview of the states OMP and District
 of Critical Planning Concern (DCPC) designation that allowed a
 limited moratorium on development in the planning area. The
 designation allowed policy makers, stakeholders, and citizens the
 opportunity to develop regional tools and regulations to address
 issues and concerns specific to Cape Cod, including the potential
 visual impact of offshore wind turbines on the regions scenic and
 cultural resources.  The session will describe a Visual Impact
 Assessment (VIA) process developed by the Cape Cod Commission that
 will be used in the regional regulatory review for offshore
 renewable energy facilities in state waters. The VIA provides a
 method for: systematic evaluation of the regions scenic resources;
 establishing the visibility of the project; completing an inventory
 of visual and scenic resources affected; and, siting and design
 guidance to avoid or minimize visual impacts. The session will also
 describe how computer visualizations were prepared to test visual
 preferences of offshore wind turbines at different distances and
 configurations, and how those visualizations were used in a public
 opinion poll to help reach consensus on appropriate scale and
 regional review standards.      (Read more...)  
 
 
 
 
 .....................................................................
 
 For more details, other upcoming events, and videos of past
 Colloquium events, visit:  http://www.cns.umass.edu/neclimate/
 To join our mailing list, visit:
 http://www.cns.umass.edu/neclimate/contact
 ....................................................................
 Addie Rose Holland
 Climate System Research Center
 Department of Geosciences
 University of Massachusetts Amherst
 aholland@geo.umass.edu
 http://www.cns.umass.edu/neclimate/

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