Clifton vote
Bangor Daily News | Posted June 25, 2014 | bangordailynews.com
On July 1 the residents of Clifton will be voting to modify their wind power ordinance, reportedly to accommodate the Pisgah Mountain project.
The changes proposed by the planning board will weaken or reduce the minimal protections provided by the current ordinance.
Industrial wind turbines are the largest machines on our planet and can be destructive to both wildlife and humans if not sited properly. Their impacts can be felt across miles, not feet. For example, folks with camps on Davis and Holbrook Ponds in Eddington and Holden may experience visual, sound and nighttime lighting impacts from these turbines.
Setbacks are a very important element to any ordinance, and their purpose is to protect owners on both sides of a property line. For most categories of developments, standard ordinances provide clear-cut guidelines for property-line setbacks that are easy to understand and to comply with.
However, because wind turbines are so tall, and their 50-ton motors are so powerful, they do not recognize property rights or boundaries.
I urge voters not to approve these amendments on July 1, but rather to take time to really look at what the impact will be on themselves and their neighbors. There are other hills and mountains in Clifton, and a weak ordinance may quickly attract more wind developments. The accumulative impacts of wind turbine sprawl will not only change the rural character of Clifton but also its neighboring communities
Greg Perkins
Holden
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/06/25/clifton-vote/