Middleburgh doesn’t have to specify a height for industrial wind turbines in order to limit them.
But with an application for a two-turbine project on Lawton Hollow Road expected to be filed within the next year, now would be a good time for the town to impose a moratorium on large-scale wind.
That’s the advice Joint Planning Board chair Fred Risse gave to Supervisor Wes Laraway and councilmen Thursday.
The Town Board voted to move ahead on the moratorium as a way to gather more information and take another look at its law—but didn’t enact one; that move would be subject to a public hearing.
At issue is a five-megawatt wind project Borrego Solar is proposing in Huntersland.
The Planning Board has accepted as complete Borrego’s application for a MET—wind measuring tower.
That decision will go to the County Planning Commission in November, then back to the Town Board for a final OK.
The MET application is separate from an application for the turbines; the MET will be used to measure whether there’s enough wind to move ahead, something that will take an estimated 12-18-months.
But Borrego’s Dominick Arico said they won’t wait until the wind study is complete to submit an application for the two turbines—something that surprised the Planning Board.
It was Huntersland neighbor Gus Wade who pointed out that the Zoning Code Rewrite restricts the height of small-scale—but not large-scale—turbines.
After hearing that, Mr. Risse and fellow Planning Board member Denise Lloyd met with County Planning.
Mr. Risse said Thursday they were told they don’t have to have a height restriction in the law and can set it project-by-project.
He suggested the town survey residents on where they stand on green energy like solar and wind—concerns that are really just emerging.
He also suggested a six-month moratorium on industrial wind, something that could be extended a second six months as long as the town was seriously studying the topic, Ms. Lloyd said.
“It’s similar to fracking,” Planning Board member Bonnie Morton said of wind.
“No one thought it was something we’d have to be dealing with.”
Mr. Laraway said he doesn’t have a problem with a six-month moratorium.
“We can look at all the options,” he said when Mr. Risse pressed him on the survey.
Ted Werner, who lives in the Town of Fulton, but because he lives on Clauverwie Road said he’s more impacted by what goes on in Middleburgh, said the wording on any survey needs to be carefully considered.
“People need to know green energy is not a panacea,” he said. “The facts need to be presented fairly and clearly.”