March 21, 2012
Maine

Clifton landowner files lawsuit against wind project

Written by Mike DeSumma, www.wcsh6.com 21 March 2012

A landowner in Clifton is now pursuing legal action to keep a wind project from being built near his property.

Last fall the town’s planning board granted approval for a land developer to build the five-turbine project on Pisgah Mountain. Clifton’s board of appeals then upheld that decision in January.

Peter and Julie Beckford, who own a small farm near the mountain, say they now plan to take their case to court. They claim that their livelihood would suffer if the wind project goes up.

Supporters of the five-turbine project say that it could generate enough power for anywhere from 4,000 to 5,000 Maine homes. Land appraiser Paul Fuller of Bangor has been working on the project for the last two years and obtained the necessary permit from Clifton’s planning board in October.

The Beckfords are now looking to get that permit reviewed and revoked. The couple has filed a complaint against the town of Clifton in Penobscot Superior Court.

They claim that that town violated its own land use guidelines by ignoring two cabins that are on their property and would be less than 4,000 feet away from the turbines if they are built.

Opponents of the project are also arguing that Fuller’s company did not submit an ‘adequate’ environmental study and ignored what the project’s effects could be on plant and bird life.

“The process was biased from the start,” said Beckford, “it {the project} was going to be permitted and it was.”

From this point the Beckfords have a little over a month to formally lay out the arguments of their suit. Neither town officials in Clifton nor their attorney offered comment Wednesday on the complaint.

Paul Fuller told NEWS CENTER Wednesday that arguments of bias in the matter are ‘completely un-factual.’ He added that the project also has met all environmental and sound requirements put forth by the town as well as the state.

NEWS CENTER

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/03/21/clifton-landowner-files-lawsuit-against-wind-project/