December 13, 2012
Connecticut, Letters

Regulatory plan for wind power is bad for towns

Republican-American | December 13, 2012 | www.rep-am.com

The State Siting Council proposes to take from us our very right to freely own property in our towns, enjoying our solitude unencumbered by the onslaught of noisy industrial wind turbines soaring nearly 500 feet into the sky. If the council has its way, neither a municipal planning and zoning commission, nor any other local official or elected body, will be able to do a thing about it. Having been through this process in Prospect, I know how bad this can be for homeowners.

On Dec. 18, the legislature’s Regulations Review Committee will review the State Siting Council’s recommended wind-energy regulations. While the regulations proposed are lacking in too many areas to mention, there are two glaring pokes in the eye of Connecticut’s cities and towns. With the public’s help, the committee can reject these regulations as proposed.

First, the proposed setback of the giant turbines is a shocking 1.5 times the height, or 600 to 750 feet from a home. Second, the proposed regulations would not allow local governments to exercise any authority in these decisions.

It’s time to call your legislators, mayors and the Connecticut Council of Small Towns to tell them to you are not going to accept this theft of local control from our towns.

Timothy C. Reilly, Prospect

The writer was president of Save Prospect Corp., which opposed a windmill proposal by BNE Energy.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/12/13/regulatory-plan-for-wind-power-is-bad-for-towns/