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Letter To The Editor #3 - Cape Codder - 3/12/2007 |
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| ADEQUATE SETBACKS NEEDED | ||
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In an article March 2 about Eastham’s
wind project (“Board Withdraws Proposed Bylaw to Regulate
Turbines”), Brian Eastman, chairman of the Eastham Energy Committee,
mischaracterized the alternative to the town’s wind bylaw – the
Hesse bylaw – as requiring a setback of 1,200 feet from property
lines. In fact, the Hesse bylaw requires a setback from property lines
of 700 feet and 1,200 feet from residences.
In what can only be understood as a
supremely ironic use of language, Eastman decries the 1,200-foot setback
as a “fatal flaw” because the town does not have enough land to
accommodate this setback. What Eastman neglects to mention is that the
quasi-state agency funding and advising Eastham and other Cape towns
exploring wind power, typically produces a report, “Fatal Flaws
Analysis for a Wind Turbine” for each town once perspective turbine
sites are identified. The reports prepared for Wellfleet, Brewster,
Chatham, Harwich and Yarmouth all contain the following language: “at
this stage, to check for ‘fatal flaws,’ a rule of thumb can be used:
to minimize possible noise impacts, site wind turbines at least three
times blade tip height from residences.” Turbine sites in towns that
could not meet this criterion were disqualified from further
consideration.
Since Eastham is considering turbines 400
feet high at blade tip, a minimum setback of 1,200 feet from residences
is needed to satisfy the rule of thumb. And yet, strangely, in Eastham,
the “fatal flaws” rule of thumb was ignored in favor of a shorter
setback. As a result, my home would be less than 660 feet from a turbine
and many more would be less than 1,200 feet away. The Hesse bylaw, which
we co-authored, merely attempts to hold the town to the same setback
standard applied elsewhere. By contrast, the model bylaw promoted by the
town appears to be designed more to accommodate the size of the land
than to protect the health, safety and welfare of nearby residents.
Pam and Phil Hesse
Eastham
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