N.S. wind turbine foes turn to crowdfunding for court battle
NORTH SMITHFIELD – In a sign it’s digging in for a protracted legal battle, the fledgling activist group opposed to the construction of a skyscraper-tall wind turbine has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for legal expenses.
Conserve Our Unique Rural Town (COURT) has raised more than $3,700 since it launched the campaign on the Go Fund Me site about two weeks ago.
The site says COURT’s goal is $10,000, which it plans to use for informational pamphlets, lawn signs, legal expenses and expert witnesses. Sharon Mayewski, a neighbor of the Old Smithfield Road site where the proposed turbine would be built and a director of COURT, established the campaign.
The proposed 465-foot-tall turbine was on track for a hearing before the Zoning Board of Review this week – until COURT appealed an earlier advisory opinion in favor of the structure. The Town Council also imposed a temporary moratorium on wind turbines, but it’s unclear whether the freeze may be applied retroactively. Both issues must now be decided by the Zoning Board, sitting as a quasijudicial Board of Appeals, in a stillun scheduled hearing.
But many observers believe that that the battle over the wind turbine will be a long one that is eventually decided in a court of law. No matter how the Board of Appeals responds to COURT’s petition, the activist group and North Kingstown-based Wind Energy Development – the company that wants to build the turbine – may appeal the decision to Superior Court.
“If this is approved it will definitely have a negative impact on our neighborhood, property values, environment, public health, wildlife, etc.,” COURT asserts on its Go Fund Me page. “This will have a huge negative impact on residents of North Smithfield: reduction in property tax revenues, residents suing the Town if they cannot sell their property, damage to Old Smithfield Road which is not structurally sound to handle major heavy equipment and cranes.”
But the most frightening scenario of all, COURT asserts, is the prospect of more wind turbines on the horizon if the group’s mission to stop the WED proposal falls short.
“...once this Wind Turbine project is passed, then it will set a precedent for future wind turbines in residential areas,” the group says. “Maybe the next one will be in your back yard.”
At 465 feet, the proposed turbine would be 37 feet taller than the Superman building in Providence, thus taking its position as the tallest structure in the state.
While critics portray the turbine as a black eye for a pristine, historic neighborhood that still retains the fla-
vor of its farming legacy, WED argues that the whole point of the proposal is to preserve as much of the existing character as possible. The turbine would require a footprint of roughly 800 square feet on a largely undeveloped tract of some 50 acres at Hi on a Hill Herb Farm & Gardens, owned by Ruth Pacheco.
In the past, Pacheco was a staunch opponent of Dowling Villlage, a spokeswoman for WED told The Call earlier this week, and she now wants to partner with the turbine developers to lessen the likelihood that her land will succumb to similar development pressure. With income from leasing the turbine – about $54,000 a year – it’s much more likely that agricultural uses will be sustainable on most of the Pacheco property into the foreseeable future.
“Ruth Pacheco wants the
wind turbine sited on her property for a good reason,” WED’s Hannah Morini also wrote in an opinion piece taht appeared in the paper. “The land has been in her family and used for agricultural purposes since the early 1800s. She does not want to sell the land for development. The turbine would only occupy 800 square feet while providing revenue to keep and protect the rest of her property.”
There are currently two key issues before the Board of Appeals, either of which could result in litigation. One is whether the Planning Board acted within the scope of its authority in April when it granted preliminary approval for the concept of the turbine. The board is also likely to hear arguments, for and against, the retroactive application of a moratorium on wind turbines.
Town Solicitor David Igliozzi says the town’s regulations say the board must hold the hearing within 45 days of the filing of the appeal by COURT, which means it must happen no later than June 30.
As the process evolves, Igliozzi said the most important thing for town officials to do is maintain a neutral position on the merits of the turbine and make sure all due process privileges owed to the parties with a direct interest in the outcome are protected.
“My goal, going forward, is to make sure all the parties have due process,” he said. “That’s where the problems can crop up, when the parties aren’t allowed to have due process along the way.”