April 1, 2021
Rhode Island

Foster planners will consider whether to ban wind turbines

By Ethan Shorey, Valley Breeze Editor | The Valley Breeze | 3/31/2021 | www.valleybreeze.com

Rhode Island’s wind turbine debate is coming to Foster, where members of the Planning Board are set to have a discussion on the future of this energy source here.

Town Planner Michael Antonellis said the April 6 meeting, a replacement for the canceled March 17 meeting, will feature a “preliminary exploratory discussion on how to address wind turbines in town.”

“The Planning Board is doing its due diligence to research the issue and figure out how to best proceed,” he said. “The board is deciding between whether they should recommend that wind turbines be placed on the ‘prohibited uses’ list within the ordinance, or allow wind turbines by special use permit with certain restrictions.”

The discussion, he said, “is really in its infancy right now.”

A number of other communities, including Scituate, are considering restrictions or outright bans on wind turbines, which are often blamed for noise and vision issues for residents nearby.

Among other issues to be discussed at the April 6 meeting, to be held at 7 p.m. on Zoom, officials will take part in another conversation about blight and neglect-based deterioration along Route 6, with Building Official Jeff Lykins to take part.

Antonellis said he doesn’t expect a lot of new material to emerge on the subject, but more revisiting previous board initiatives.

“The Planning Board is looking to engage the Town Council in a conversation as to how best to approach blight in town,” he said. “So there will likely be a subsequent joint meeting with the Planning Board and the Town Council as a result. We’ll likely try to schedule that at the next meeting.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2021/04/01/foster-planners-will-consider-whether-to-ban-wind-turbines/