June 21, 2012
Letters, Massachusetts

Stand up to solar farms, residents of Lunenburg

Sentinel & Enterprise | www.sentinelandenterprise.com 21 June 2012

To my fellow Lunenburg residents:

I am writing to ask for your help. Currently large solar companies are still at our throats to decimate two neighborhoods by installing 20-plus acres of solar panels literally feet from our back doors. They insist that they have the right to do so, blatantly ignoring our zoning laws and the new bylaw that was put in place to protect us.

They are purposely trying to confuse and bully our Planning Board into allowing them to go forward with the projects proposed on both Pleasant and West streets and another on Chase Road. They claim that a minimum of 2.6 megawatts of power, taking up 20 acres of open land is necessary to turn a profit. Frankly, that is a lot of hogwash. If so much acreage was needed, then why is there a solar field being installed on Route 70 in Lancaster that takes up only a couple of acres at most, and is properly zoned away from residential neighborhoods? If such a small installation wasn’t profitable, it would not be in the midst of being built. The fact is, they’re aiming for the sky, and will take the moon if we let them. They aren’t looking to turn a small profit; they want a fortune.

They will dangle “carrots” in front of all our noses, but I implore you, do not be tempted. There are commercial and industrial zoned areas in our town where these projects would have little to no opposition, including the three by-right sites we added in the new bylaw. They would not threaten our health, safety or our welfare in these locations. They would not break the laws we worked so hard and tirelessly to put in place if they moved them to these locations.

Yes, this type of thing could possibly aid us, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of others – your neighbors, your friends, your community. We stood up for ourselves and said “no” when the Proposition 2 1/2 override was proposed. Sacrificing our children’s health and safety, our homes and our rural integrity is equivalent to unfair taxation. Please help. Stand up with us and say “no” to industrial-sized power plants in a residential zone. No neighborhood should be a sacrificial lamb. Tell the Planning Board and all town officials we will not be bullied around. Help us protect the homes we love and work hard to keep. Help us move these to the proper areas where they belong.

CELESTE McCAIN

Lunenburg


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/06/21/stand-up-to-solar-farms-residents-of-lunenburg/