Town prevails in lawsuit over solar projects
A court has sided with the town regarding regulations that govern solar energy installations.
The state Supreme Court ruling, handed down last week, rejected three plaintiffs’ claim that the Rhinebeck law was written with significant assistance from people who have a conflict of interest.
The court said the conflict claim related to an advisory group that did not have the authority to adopt or enforce the law.
“Petitioner’s contention ... is misplaced based upon the unrefuted fact that the advisory group members did not have any decision-making authority with respect to the enactment of the local law,” the decision states. “The task force was simply a volunteer group the Town Board convened to aid in the development of a proposed local law. It had no authority to adopt the law or act in furtherance of its recommendations.”
The advisory task force included then-Zoning Board of Appeals member Jeff Irish, president of Hudson Solar; town Planning Board member Sharon Sherrod, sister of town Highway Superintendent Barry Sherrod, who owns property where a Hudson Solar project is proposed; and town Zoning Board of Appeals Scott Bergin, an attorney who has represented Hudson Solar.
The lawsuit was filed by three neighbors of the property where the Hudson Solar project is proposed. Amanda Miller, Eric Wallach and Philip Coratti contended in the suit that the law was tainted because the interests of the advisory group’s members was not disclosed while regulations were being drafted or during public hearing on the law.
Town Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia said the court ruling was important in letting the town move forward with renewable energy projects.
“We are committed to renewable energy and following the mandates of our Comprehensive Plan to become an energy-smart community,” she said. “This is a victory for us. It clearly lays out that the ethical charges were untrue and unwarranted and that we handled the [state environmental review] process correctly.”
Miller said she didn’t “think Jeff Irish’s disclosure was adequate,.”
“Had he disclosed from the very beginning that he and Barry Sherrod wanted to put a power plant ... on the property in question, every resident on Wurtemburg Road would have gotten wind of it and would have shown up to those hearings,” she said.
Miller declined to say if the plaintiffs plan to appeal the ruling.