April 29, 2011
Massachusetts

Bourne turbine moratorium or not? Parady may decide

Bourne Courier, www.wickedlocal.com 29 April 2011Bourne Courier, www.wickedlocal.com 29 April 2011

Town Planner Coreen Moore has advised the Bourne Planning Board that a citizen-amendment seeking to revise the bylaw governing turbine review is written in a way that prohibits industrial-grade utility turbines in Bourne.

Attorney Christopher Senie, representing Concerned Citizens for Responsible Energy, said he has prepared three amendments to the bylaw bound for the May 9 Special Town Meeting. One, he said, would change verbiage to an extent there would be no de facto moratorium on larger turbines.

This leaves Moderator Robert Parady with a decision to make. The article’s language is such larger turbines would not be allowed, and this has been legally advertised for a May 6 planning board hearing.

A proposed revision would not rule out the structures. But this might be construed as significantly changing the scope and intent of the article and not reflect what was legally advertised for public consumption. If this is the case, Parady might not allow the amendment from town meeting floor.

“The bylaw should be clear,” Moore said. “If you don’t want these turbines, don’t present a bylaw that appears to allow them but doesn’t allow them. Put it clearly in a ‘use box’ that these larger turbines are ‘not allowed.’”

Moore said there are only two zones in town where an industrial turbine might be situated under the amended bylaw’s language: the landfill off MacArthur Boulevard and the Massachusetts Military Reservation. “And you couldn’t put one on the base,” she said.

Moore and planning board chairman Chris Farrell will join Parady in a pre-town meeting session to review the citizen group’s proposed article revisions.

Selectmen, meanwhile, have requested a report from Moore about whether the proposed citizen petition amendment to the turbine bylaw would rule out larger turbines any place in Bourne.

The citizen group has said publicly this is not its intent, but its attorrney Senie has said his proposed article amendment would change the language of the article to make sure they would be accommodated.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/04/29/bourne-turbine-moratorium-or-not-parady-may-decide/