By JIM HICKEY

The Oak Bluffs planning board next week will hold a public hearing on two major changes to the town bylaws that will appear on the ballot of the annual town meeting, one that would create new regulations for wind turbines under 200 feet and another that would require property owners to apply for a special permit to build within federal flood plain zones.

The public hearing on the zoning changes is scheduled for Thursday, April 1 at 7 p.m. in the new meeting room downstairs at town hall, where the building and planning offices were formerly located. The annual town meeting is April 13 at 7 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center of the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

The new wind bylaw would require all new windmills to meet minimum technical standards, and require the manufacturer and a qualified engineer to certify the structure. It would require private wind facilities to receive a permit from the building department, and be located a distance away from the nearest property line that measures from the ground to the top of the blade.

The bylaw would also require any windmill that has reached the end of its useful life to be removed.

The new flood zone bylaw would establish two new flood zones, one the “V” zone, which is designated by the federal emergency management agency as an area that could be damaged by high waves or storms. Under the bylaw all building would be prohibited in the velocity zone, which effectively it already is.

The second would be the “A” zone, designated by the federal government and comprised mostly of the 100-year storm zone. Under the bylaw, any construction within this zone would require a special permit from the zoning board, and would need to comply with federal and state flood plain building regulations.

The bylaw would also establish a site plan review committee, which would advise the property owner as to which federal, state and local boards need to approve the construction before it begins.