Impact of Article X on local governments

Senator George H. Winner, Jr.
Chairman, Legislative Commission on Rural Resources

Dear Senator Winner, Jr.:

This letter is an answer to the questionnaire regarding the impact of proposed Article X regulations on local governments. I am a member of the Planning Board in the Town of Lyme and I also, prior to joining the Planning Board, organized a Citizen's Advisory Committee for the purpose of gathering information about wind turbines and their effects. Lyme's Planning Board recently developed a set of proposed modifications to our local land use regulations to govern the siting of wind turbines in the town of Lyme. We have reviewed our proposed law with several public hearings and subsequently with the Jefferson County Planning Board. We are currently proceeding to modify the proposed law to incorporate the County's comments, prior to its adoption.

I am concerned that in your letter of January 31, requesting comments of local government officials, you state that your commission has been a strong proponent of responsible wind energy development. This statement concerns me because my research as to the efficacy of wind energy supplied by large industrial wind turbines has not convinced me that these devices contribute significantly to either our energy independence or to a reduction in greenhouse gases.

We find ourselves in the position of being aggressively pursued by wind developers who are, of course strong advocates of these large wind turbines. In my extensive research of the effects of these large wind turbine installations, it seems to me that the principal beneficiaries are the large wind developers and wealthy investors who reap significant tax relief from their ownership of these devices. The State should offer us protection when dealing with these financially and, it appears, politically powerful wind turbine developers. I would hope, that as citizens of New York, we could count on the State to assist us in resisting these large corporations who do not care or appreciate the damage these large wind installations would do to the scenic beauty of the Thousand Islands area and the consequent damage to our largely tourist/vacationer based economy.

In general we have not found the State to be helpful in our situation. The literature provided on NYSERDA's website for municipalities appears to have been taken nearly verbatim from the press releases of the AWEA or the individual wind developers.

NYSERDA, in its paper titled, "Other Potential Environmental Impacts," (October 2005, www.powernaturally.org) characterizes these large industrial turbines as devices producing sound levels comparable to a "kitchen refrigerator," at a setback of 750 to 1,000 feet. This is pure nonsense as there are documented studies of people residing several miles from these devices experiencing annoying sound levels. If the State is going to put out materials for guidance of local officials through NYSERDA or other agencies, it should be researched, compiled, and vetted by independent experts from our universities and not by the wind developers and their paid consultants. Senator George H. Winner, Jr.

The wind developers in this and surrounding communities have utilized unethical approaches that are virtually tearing communities apart. I have attached a letter I recently sent to the editor of the Watertown Daily Times protesting this tactic of approaching the poor farmers in the area years before making their intentions known to the community.

I am particularly concerned about the penultimate paragraph of your summary of the law wherein it is stated that, "The siting board would be required to determine if the proposed facility is in compliance with local laws and regulations, unless it finds those local requirements are unreasonably restrictive..." Our planning Board has devoted considerable effort to researching and defining noise restrictions in our local law. This is particularly important in Lyme as a large portion of our residents own property on or near Lake Ontario, which they value for its peaceful quiet atmosphere and beautiful vistas. The establishment of wind turbine facilities here in Lyme and in the neighboring towns of Cape Vincent, Clayton, and Hounsfield would adversely affect the desirability of the area to vacationers and tourists. I would not want to see our carefully crafted and reasonable local regulations overridden by a State Board and it appears the proposed modifications to Article X would make that a possibility.

In summary, I would like to see the State provide some assistance to the local governments of our towns to resist these aggressive and powerful developers who are determined to reap the benefits currently available for wind turbine owners, regardless of disastrous consequences to our communities, our economy and our way of life. The developers should not be getting assistance from the State as we are already engaged in a David and Goliath struggle. I would be pleased to further discuss this situation with you and your Senate Committee.

Very truly yours,
Albert H. Bowers III

cc: Darrel Aubertine
William Barclay
Governor Eliot Spitzer