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and spill remediation measures should be taken to avoid potential ground or surface water contamination. IV. COMPLIANCE WITH COUNTY ORDINANCES The current zoning (A-1) allows "utility services,"but does not allow electrical generation facilities as either a permitted or conditional use. (Note that this provision differs from the similar A-1 (Exclusive) district, which allows "small scale electric generators" as a permitted use.) C-2 Commercial,the requested zoning district, allows "auxiliary or supplemental electric generating stations," "warehousing and storage incidental to a permitted use," "utility services," and"storage and processing ... of waste materials" as permitted uses. Madison Gas & Electric has indicated that the above uses are typically associated with the type of generators proposed for this location. MG&E may also wish to use this site for dispatch radio antennas, and may choose to apply for a conditional use for a"communications tower" at a future date. Note that C-2 zoning would also permit a wide variety of other, potentially noxious uses, including slaughterhouses,bottling plants and retail outlets that do not relate to the proposed use, and may be incompatible with nearby residential development. The committee may wish to limit the available uses to those typically associated with supplementary electrical generation. V. COMPLIANCE WITH ADOPTED PLANS The Town of Middleton Land Use Plan identifies the project site as within an agricultural preservation area, a designation seemingly at odds with the predominance of C-2 zoning in the immediate vicinity. See the Regional Planning Commission staff comments in the composite report for applicable policies in this area. The Dane County Parks and Open Space plan shows the property as within the Upper Black Earth Creek Resource Area and within a mile and a half of the proposed Mazomanie to Black Earth Trail. Since this proposal involves an already developed site with a similar use, it is unlikely to have a major impact on park planning objectives. W. PUBLIC, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND AGENCY INPUT RPC staff note that an electric generating station is arguably compatible with an agricultural preservation area as defined in the Town of Middleton Land Use Plan, but also note that noise from the generators could be a problem to nearby residents. RPC staff also suggest that safeguards to contain fuel spills may be appropriate. As of this writing, no other state or county agency had commented on this proposal. The Town of Middleton has approved the petition with the following conditions: 1. The number of generators on the site at any given time shall be limited to 10 such units, each unit not exceeding 1250 KW; 2. The total annual operating hours of all the generators shall not exceed 200 hours per year, including testing, operations and maintenance; 3. The noise level of each generator shall not exceed a 65 decibels at a distance of 50 feet. The Town reserves the right to implement appropriate noise testing/monitoring activities;