June 14, 2011
New Jersey

BRSA obtains key parcel of land for wind turbine, says attorney

By Scott Greenberg, Holmdel Patch, holmdel.patch.com 13 June 2011

The Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority says it now owns a key parcel of land in Union Beach it needs to accommodate the 380-foot tall turbine’s rotating blades.

BRSA attorney Louis E. Granata, of Granata & Zaccardi, Matawan, said at a meeting Monday night that a 10,000-square foot parcel of land owned by JCP&L was obtained through condemnation, and it is now owned by the BRSA. The land was needed because the turbine’s 118-foot long turning blades will extend past the authority’s property line.

“It’s all done,” said Louis Granata, counsel for the BRSA, at the meeting. Asked by member David Cohen if the “distinction” of residential or industrial use applies anymore, Granata said, “It makes no difference.”

Obtaining rights to the land was important to the authority, which wishes to employ the industrial turbine to help lower energy costs for its ratepayers in the eight towns it services, including Holmdel. In April, the commissioners passed a resolution after closed session to authorize their attorney to condemn the property to comply with Coastal Areas Facility Review Act permit requirements. (See minutes of their meeting here.)

Previously the Union Beach Planning Board denied the authority’s request to rezone the JCP&L property from residential to industrial use. The BRSA argued that there was an error in the zoning map and that it should have been an industrial zone, not a residential one.

The authority is now in the process of seeking a Special Use permit from the county to allow the biggest parts of the wind turbine to be transported on county roads. The parts are being transported from Tennessee.

The industrial wind turbine planned for the northeast corner of the BRSA property, just 1080 feet from a residential neighborhood, has caused outcry residents and environmentalists fearing negative health effects and loss of property value. Holmdel Township Committee members recently passed a resolution stating they do not support construction of the wind turbine.

The BRSA services Holmdel, Hazlet, Union Beach, Matawan, Aberdeen, Keyport, Keansburg, and parts of Marlboro.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/06/14/brsa-obtains-key-parcel-of-land-for-wind-turbine-says-attorney/