Lyme’s wind dis-ease
by Timlynn Babitsky
No matter what T. Boone Pickens thinks about wind power, the Town Board of Lyme New York just doesn’t share his enthusiasm. It recently enacted a local zoning law that effectively puts the kibosh on what could be a “boone” for local residents. But, Voters for Wind won’t let their idea just blow away.
The new Lyme zoning law prevents any wind turbines (commercial and residential) within 4,500 feet of the Lake Ontario waterfront and the villages of Three Mile Bay and Chaumont. In response, Voters for Wind a local wind advocacy group filed a State Supreme Court lawsuit against the Town of Lyme. The lawsuit wants to have the restrictive zoning law nullified stating that the super-majority vote required was not achieved and the zoning ordinance as written is arbitrary and capricious.
Sounds like your typical battle – wind farmers fighting the NIMBY pack – but not in this case. The heart of the issue here is a real concern that this law is too restrictive. That it essentially eliminates the possibility of wind development of any kind, at any time, in the Town of Lyme on a purely political basis.
“I feel they have their own agenda. They have been very anti wind from the beginning,” said Voters for Wind vice president Dawn Munk.
With all the recent hoopla in the media pointing to huge wind power projects being planned or developed all over the country now, it is important to remember that there are MANY battles over wind power still taking place.
If you are a David battling Goliath. if you are pushing a wind project with out the benefit of power, money or prestige. If your wind power project is also under fire, check out the Wind Power Community Organizing handbook and the rest of this website.
There are strategies and tactics that can help you move your project forward. Click here and then use the arrows on the Lulu toolbar to see the Table of Contents, sample pages of copy and the index of the Wind Power Handbook.
And, Click here for more on the Lyme case study in progress.