Let's build a coalition in western New York

Source: Citizens for a Healthy Rural Neighborhood | New York

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Citizens for a Healthy Rural Neighborhood (CHRN) was formed in the spring of 2006 to oppose the installation of industrial turbines in the town of Perry, NY. The organization has been actively trying to reverse a zoning law enacted by the Town Board last January that permits turbines up to 450′ tall in the township. More recently, CHRN has adopted a position promoting responsible wind energy development using smaller wind turbines that are compatible with residential neighborhoods, and other neighbor-friendly alternative forms of “green energy” development.

Perry is currently in the review period of the Draft EIS that was accepted by the Town Board in July. A public hearing on the Draft is scheduled for October 16, 2006 with final acceptance expected on November 30th. Our plans are to continue opposing the wind turbine project, known locally as Horizon Energy’s Dairy Hills Wind Farm, through local political activity and the New York legal system. Richard Lippes of Buffalo, a highly experienced and well-known lawyer specializing in environmental law, has been retained to represent CHRN’s concerns.

We are aware that many similar organizations to CHRN have formed in townships throughout New York (and other states) that share similar goals. It seems to us that greater effectiveness would be gained if these organizations proactively shared information about their experiences with wind energy companies and town officials, and acted together to increase the political clout with the media, state legislatures and elected representatives.

If you belong to a group like ours that shares our views, we would like to begin a dialogue with you to see if a larger organization can be established to fulfill the above objectives, particularly in Western New York. To express your interest, please contact Val Sahrle via email at valsarle@frontier.net, or Richard Barth at rbarth9@rochester.rr.com.

Together we stand a better chance of defeating the government-private industry consortium that intends on destroying our neighborhoods. Time is short, so please respond as soon as possible.