Wind turbine plan to come again before Eastham voters
Do wind turbines have a future in Eastham?
Some residents are opposed to them in a town that has many residential lots and scenic views and vistas. They often cite the problems they pose from loss of property values, and point out that for all the ballyhoo about what wind turbines can do, they have yet led to the closure of a power plant in the United States or Europe.
That’s because “they do not work consistently,” said Pam Hesse, part of the group that successfully opposed the selectmen’s plan to place four, 400-foot high turbines on two parcels of land abutting private homes in North Eastham.
But others, including towns, see wind turbines as a means to power municipal buildings and possibly generate a stream of revenue to the town.
The planning board will present three proposed bylaw changes dealing with wind turbines to voters at annual town meeting.
A public hearing on two of the proposed bylaws will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18, at town hall. The first bylaw is for regular turbines of 75 to 80 feet that could be placed on private property provided there is sufficient setback for them. The second is for municipal wind turbines of up to 260 feet in height that would be placed on town-owned property for the benefit of the community.
On Wednesday, Feb. 25, also at town hall, a public hearing will be held by the planning board to rezone the transfer station and the department of public works, which lie on Old Orchard Road, and a lot at Rock Harbor from residential to industrial to enable the town to place wind turbines at these sites.
Sarah Raposa, the town planner, said no sites are on the table at this point, and a two-thirds vote would be needed at town meeting to approve any of the proposed bylaw changes.
As for the change that would allow a turbine of up to 80 feet in a residential neighborhood, Raposa said many people do not see it as being effective because of trees, but if it passes town meeting, then the planning board would want to see if anyone applies for one. “They want to make it possible for people who are serious about this,” she said.
Hesse said she’ll be at the Feb. 18 hearing, to voice her objections, and said she hopes that the people who live near the transfer station, the DPW, and Rock Harbor show up for the Feb. 25 hearing.
“I hope people are concerned about these bylaws,” she said. “They are going to ruin the town.”
She points out the existing cell tower, which brings in revenue to the town, is 200 feet tall. A wind turbine of 260 feet “is still big, never mind the insanity of a 400-footer,” she said. “I don’t think I’d want a 260-foot wind turbine by my house.”
Hesse said she understands there are 75 homes near the transfer station whose owners would find, if the rezoning bylaw is approved, that they are next door to an industrially zoned area where municipal turbines of up to 250 feet would be allowed, town meeting willing.
“What will that do to the town’s assessment? The selectmen and the planning board are determined to run our town into bankruptcy by lawsuit,” she said. “We’ve been concerned the whole time about how many lawsuits will result.”
She and the others who successfully fought the proposal for 400-foot turbines will attend the Feb. 18 public hearing, Hesse said. “But we can’t fight for everybody. I hope that the people who own houses all around the transfer station show up to fight at the Feb. 25 meeting because I am not going to fight for them. Where are all the people who should be concerned about this? What about the people with million-dollar homes near Rock Harbor? Don’t they care? Where are they? I don’t think people have any conception of what one of these things will be like next to a house?”
By Marilyn Miller
16 February 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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