Although members of the commission did note that if dozens of supporters
of wind on the ridge pack the public hearing, as opponents did this
week, they would have to listen to their opinions as well.
WIND FARMING
The planning commission's meeting touched on two alternative energy
proposals, one from American Flatbread to install 15 solar trackers in
the field north of the farm and the second to consider a request from
Citizens Wind to change the Town Plan so that wind farming was permitted
on the Northfield Ridge. The Town Plan currently prohibits development
above 1,700 feet on the ridge and specifically prohibits wind farming.
Emotions ran high at the meeting with many people upset that there
seemed to be no way for the public to weigh in on the aesthetic impacts
of solar trackers on scenic highways, and people adamantly opposed any
wind development on the ridge.
Planning commission chair Steve Shea and planning commissioner Drew
Simmons explained that the permitting process for solar installations,
including trackers, in Vermont is handled at the state level by the
Public Service Board (PSB).
PRIME AG SOILS
Planning commissioners were asked if the town could regulate screening
of solar installations and responded that it is possible that local
setbacks would have to be taken into consideration. Planning
commissioner Hadley Gaylord suggested that solar installations have a
different impact when placed in open fields versus on roofs and existing
buildings.
Shea explained that the town could send a letter to the PSB detailing
the parts of the current Town Plan that address open land preservation,
scenic corridors and the protection of prime ag soils. The planning
commission is currently working on rewriting the Town Plan and the newer
version will contain stronger language than the current version in
terms of open lands and prime ag soils.
Zoning Administrator Vicky Trihy pointed out that the PSB will accept a
letter from the town and/or the town can ask for a public hearing before
the board to voice concerns about a proposed solar installation.
REQUIRE SCREENING
"Screening these should be required. If someone's solar trackers are
going to impact my view, they should be required to screen them," said
one woman in attendance.
"If we make it a Town Plan policy to screen trackers based on
aesthetics, it would be the only thing we screen based on aesthetics in
the town," said Simmons.
"Well you can't put up a great big billboard in Vermont. Why should you
be able to put these up? Why can't the people who live here say we can't
have a wind farm on the way out of town or sun trackers in our fields?"
asked Hugh Campbell.
STRONGEST, CLEAREST
"We're asking for your input on these issues now as we rewrite the Town
Plan," Shea explained.
"All we can do is have the strongest, clearest wishes of the townspeople
in our Town Plan," Simmons added.
"Well Flatbread needs to hear that we don't want to see trackers there
and don't want to see them when we buy your pizza," another woman
commented.
"I think it's a terrible waste of good dirt to put the trackers there.
Something we've been striving for, for years and years, is open
landscapes and we're going to pollute it with something that will ruin
it," Gaylord added.
"Everyone wants to be able to collect solar power, but most people in
this room are not for this project," he continued.
After further discussion the planning commission agreed to write a
letter to the PSB outlining town concerns in terms of scenic corridors,
prime ag lands and citizen input as well as the specific areas of the
current Town Plan that address those issues.
CITIZENS WIND PROPOSAL
The discussion then shifted to a more specific discussion of the
Citizens Wind proposal to install 15 to 24 wind turbines along the spine
of the Northfield Ridge. The turbines would be 500 feet high, lit at
night and accessed via a permanent dirt road along the top of the ridge.
Citizens Wind approached the town last month with a presentation of what
a project on the ridge might look like and a request that the town
consider changing the Town Plan to allow wind farming on the ridge or,
at a minimum, that the town supports Citizens Wind installing two MET
towers. MET towers are smaller, thinner instruments, 150 to 200 feet
tall, that are installed to measure wind data over the course of two
years.
TEMPORARY TOWERS
They are temporary towers that are installed using ATVs and their
installation is also regulated by the PSB.
"The question we're being asked is, should the town support the
investigation of the feasibility of a wind farm on the ridge?" Shea told
the crowd, only to receive a chorus of "No" in response.
"Once you allow them to test the ridge, you're saying that we welcome
them," commented one man.
"I'm asking you for objective reasons why we should consider wind
farming on the ridge," asked one person at the meeting.
REVENUE
"The Gulf oil spill, taking a step towards getting off oil and towards
renewable energy," Simmons said.
"Revenue," answered planning commissioner Ted Tremper.
The town could receive a payment in lieu of taxes from a wind farm in
the amount of $400,000 to $600,000 per year, roughly 25 percent of the
municipal budget.
PRISTINE RIDGELINE
"We'd be taking a pristine ridgeline and putting up a wind farm using
technology that is already obsolete. These turbines that they are
proposing are obsolete," another man said.
"I think this is a decision that should be made by the entire community
and not just Waitsfield. This is going to impact Northfield, Warren,
Moretown and Fayston as well," Tremper added.
"If there is a serious contingency of proponents of wind power in The
Valley, they need to make their support for changing the Town Plan
known. We've spent nine months working on rewriting the Town Plan, and I
think we're being asked to change what is a cornerstone of our Town
Plan, preserving ridgelines. I think it would be hasty and unwise,"
Simmons said.
"Before we make any changes to our Town Plan regarding the ridge, there
needs to be a demonstrable community voice that says we understand the
project and the impacts and we are petitioning for that Town Plan change
to be made," he concluded.
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