By DIANE BRONCACCIO, Recorder Staff | The Recorder | Saturday, April 6, 2013 | www.recorder.comBy DIANE BRONCACCIO, Recorder Staff | The Recorder | Saturday, April 6, 2013 | www.recorder.com
SHELBURNE – Instead of seeking a zoning bylaw for small-scale wind turbines at the May 7 annual town meeting, the Planning Board will ask for a one-year extension of the town’s wind turbine moratorium to give the Wind Advisory Committee more time to develop a better bylaw.
At a public hearing attended by only three residents, Planning Board members explained that the advisory committee could use more time to come up with a bylaw with clearly defined parameters for “small scale” and “on-premises” windmills.
Last year’s annual town meeting voters backed an outright ban on commercial-scale windmills and wind farms, such as the eight-turbine farm that had been proposed for Mount Massaemet in Shelburne Center. But they also placed a year-long moratorium on small-scale projects.
If approved, an extended moratorium will be in place until the 2014 annual town meeting.
The Wind Advisory Committee was to disband after this year’s annual town meeting, but the Planning Board has authorized that committee to continue until the end of July.
Medical marijuana
The board also considered asking residents to approve a one-year moratorium on siting a medical marijuana treatment center within town but decided not to submit the article for the annual town meeting warrant.
Members agreed that how such a medical treatment center would operate falls more under the authority of the Board of Health.
Planning Board Clerk Elizabeth Kidder said that the state has come out with a 45-page draft regulation, establishing guidelines for medical marijuana treatment centers and is still reviewing it, and accepting public comment.
The board agreed it might be best to see the final state regulations before the town considers any kind of siting regulations.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/04/06/shelburne-planners-seek-longer-wind-moratorium/