January 13, 2013
New York

Huntington notebook: Town mulls moratorium on wind turbine permits

By Leah Bush | Half Hollow Hills Patch | January 13, 2013 | halfhollowhills.patch.com

The Huntington Town Board will consider a 90-day moratorium on issuing permits for wind turbines at a Feb. 5 public hearing. The hearing will allow time for the Town to craft regulations regarding zoning, use, location, size, height, noise and safety requirements.

Sponsored by Councilman Mark Cuthbertson, the resolution calling for the hearing establishes a procedure similar to the one followed on 2011, when the Town enacted major revisions to the Town Code affecting cellular telephone towers.

Currently, the Town has no regulations specifically pertaining to wind turbines. However, with the wind turbine industry experiencing rapid growth, and with applications for turbines pending or anticipated, the Board saw the need to explore whether procedures specific to wind turbines should be included in the Town Code. The moratorium holds existing applications in abeyance allows while the Board considers the issue.

In other action, the Board:

— approved execution of a contract not to exceed $111,900 with Amma Construction for the reconstruction of a bulkhead at Sea Spray Drive in Centerport. The Town’s drainage system collects runoff from Sea Spray Drive and outfalls to Northport Harbor through a pipe and headwall system that, after more than 40 years of use, has collapsed, causing erosion to the shoreline. This project will address damage caused by the collapsed headwall.

— authorized a compensation agreement for Randy J. Schaeffer, whom District Court Judge C. Stephen Hackeling appointed as temporary receiver for the property at 8 Judith Drive, Greenlawn, easing the cleanup of conditions that prompted the Town to place the property on the blighted properties list.

— scheduled a public hearing for Feb. 5 to reconsider an application to allow construction of a three-bay service station at 114 Prime Avenue, Huntington, located in the Mill Lane Historic District. The Town Board denied the application last year, but was ordered by a State Supreme Court justice to reconsider the application after the Town’s action was challenged in court.

— approved the 2013 Public Art Plan, outlining ongoing and proposed projects to be advanced this year.

Coming Up

The Zoning Board will meet at 6 p.m. on Jan. 17 in Town Hall. PDF agenda attached.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/01/13/huntington-notebook-town-mulls-moratorium-on-wind-turbine-permits/