It was almost anti-climatic until it wasn’t.
After agreeing in March to amend its zoning law to outlaw all utility-scale wind and solar, the Town of Middleburgh did it for real Thursday.
As about 20 members of the grassroots No Turbines Here listened and then cheered, Supervisor Wes Laraway and councilmen unanimously approved the amendment and with it, the ban.
“It doesn’t mean it’s over. It’s never over,” said Mr. Laraway, predicting Borrego Energy, the company that last August, proposed putting two 640-foot, five-megawatt industrial wind turbines on Lawton Hollow Road, will now sue.
“But it’s dead for now.”
Members of No Turbines Here and others packed pubic hearings on the zoning law change in February and March; in March, supporters of the project and of farmers Fred and Barbara Echtner, where the turbines would have gone, also turned out.
Before the vote, Mr. Laraway said he’d gone into the discussion with an open mind—because he has 100-feet of solar panels on his barn roof.
“What changed it for me,” he said, is that the state “gives these crooks millions in subsidies” when they should be developing infrastructure to put wind and solar on state land.
“Then, the people of the State of New York would be making money off it.”
Councilman Pete Coppolo said he supports the right of people to do what they want with their land, but the overwhelming opposition to Borrego’s plans convinced him to back the ban; Councilwoman Carrie Shaul said that’s what made up her mind too.
For Councilman John Youmans, who visited the Tug Hill, where wind turbines are everywhere, it was about their size and scale.
“They just don’t fit in our community,” he said. “They are enormous. And then they want to immediately sell them off? They’re not for us.”
Councilman Steve Hendrickson was away on a work emergency and not at Thursday’s meeting.
While the ban had been expected, there were thanks all around afterwards.
“This is small town government at its best—where it really works,” said No Turbines’ Gus Wade.
“Thank you for listening to us.”
“And thank you for all of your research and work and never getting frustrated by the process,” said Mr. Laraway.
No Turbines’ Linda Blakely pointed out that it took nine months of research, letters and petitions, building a website, and too many meetings and public hearing to count to get to the ban.
“To see it worked…that says a lot about what kind of a place Middleburgh is,” she said.