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NORTH CANAAN — The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) put the brakes on an effort to write regulations for wind turbines at its Jan. 10 meeting, while members of the public expressed opinions about the direction planning should take.
BNE Energy Inc. is scouting sites along the Canaan Mountain ridgeline in East Canaan. Most of that land is zoned residential/agricultural. Matthew Freund, an owner of Freund’s Farm, where an electricity-producing wind turbine is proposed, spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting to two issues.
Freund said that after listening to proposed regulations during a recent workshop, he is very concerned that a draft proposal seems to be taking several different directions at once, and that wind turbines are being categorized as industrial.
“There are a lot of windmills on agricultural land in the U.S.,� Freund said. “It should be termed agricultural because you’re harvesting the wind.�
Prohibiting wind turbines on farmland would be “a killer� for almost any workable project here, he said.
Freund also took issue with provision in draft regulations to protect the viewshed, which would mean projects could not be put in sites where they would be visible from any historic place. That eliminates most of East Canaan, he said, adding that the town’s industrial heritage left behind many historical sites. He noted the hills were once bare of trees as part of the iron industry, and those historic sites exist only because East Canaan was once a “truly industrial place.�
“It’s part of our culture and part of our history,� he said.
While Freund sought an idea of where P&Z is going on the matter, commission members later talked about what the state has planned in the way of wind turbine regulations.
P&Z member Norman Tatsapaugh suggested they table work on their own regulations and seek an answer from the state.
A letter from state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was discussed. He issued a press release Jan. 3, two days before his term ended and he was sworn in as U.S. senator. He called for Connecticut to “develop standards to regulate wind farm developments.�
Blumenthal said he would work with the state Legislature and citizens groups to “develop principles for the siting of renewable energy projects.�
“I have my doubts we’ll get a straight answer from the state as to what their plans are,� P&Z member Dan Adam said.
Other members agreed, but in the end, voted to ask the Board of Selectmen to write to state representatives seeking an answer as to if and when.
They wondered if — like cell towers and the Siting Council that has complete jurisdiction over their placement — wind turbines would also be under the state’s control.
The Connecticut Siting Council is currently reviewing an application by BNE Energy for six turbines in Colebrook. They need approval from the state because they are bigger than the 1-megawatt cutoff. Turbines proposed in East Canaan would generate less than 1 megawatt.
Resident Tom Zetterstrom also spoke at the top of the meeting, suggesting P&Z take a proactive approach by identifying sites in town considered appropriate for wind turbines, in terms of zoning and environmental and viewshed impacts. He offered as an example outmoded and unused microwave towers on Rattlesnake Hill toward the north end of town. The towers remain because they were built and abandoned before the town had regulations that would have forced their removal.
Zetterstrom said the site may not be the best location to harvest wind, but it is adjacent to an industrial zone. It could offer a compromise of less productivity with less impact.
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Telecom Reg’s Best Kept On the Books
When Connecticut land-use commissions update their regulations, it seems like a no-brainer to jettison old telecommunications regulations adopted decades ago during a short-lived period when municipalities had authority to regulate second generation (2G) transmissions prior to the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) being ordered by a state court in 2000 to regulate all cell tower infrastructure as “functionally equivalent” services.
It is far better to update those regs instead, especially for macro-towers given new technologies like small cells. Even though only ‘advisory’ to the CSC, the preferences of towns by law must be taken into consideration in CSC decision making. Detailed telecom regs – not just a general wish list -- are evidence that a town has put considerable thought into where they prefer such infrastructure be sited without prohibiting service that many – though not all – citizens want and that first responders rely on for public safety.
Such regs come in handy when egregious tower sites are proposed in sensitive areas, typically on private land. The regs are a town’s first line of defense, especially when cross referenced to plans of conservation and development, P&Z regulations, and wetlands setbacks. They identify how/where the town plans to intersect with the CSC process. They are also a roadmap for service providers regarding preferred sites and sometimes less neighborhood contention. In fact, to have no telecom regs can weaken a town’s rights to protect environmental, scenic, and historic assets, and serve up whole neighborhoods to unnecessary overlapping coverage and corporate overreach. Such regs are unique to every town and should not follow anyone else’s boiler plate, especially industry’s.
Connecticut is the only state that has a centralized siting entity for cell towers. The good news is that applicants must prove need for new tower sites in an evidentiary proceeding and any decisions have the weight of the state behind them. The bad news is that the CSC used to be far less industry-friendly and rote in their reviews, which now resemble a check list. There is an operative assumption at CSC that if an applicant wants a tower, they must need it, otherwise why spend significant money to run the approval gauntlet? This reflects a subtle shift over the years at CSC from sincere willingness to protect the environment toward minimal tweaking of bad applications with minor changes. The bottom line is that towns really cannot rely on the CSC to do all the work for them.
What CSC issues telecom providers is a “certificate of environmental compatibility” after an evidentiary proceeding (not unlike a court case) with intervenors, parties, expert witnesses, and the service provider’s technical pro’s sworn in and subject to cross examination. Service providers get to do the same with any opposition from intervenor/party participants – like towns and citizens -- and their experts. It’s an impressive process whose ultimate goal is the fine balancing between allowing adequate/reliable public services and protecting state ecology with minimal damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values. They unfortunately often fall short of their mandate – like approving cell towers with diesel generators over town aquifers -- evidenced by CSC only rejecting about five cell towers in the past 15-20 years.
The CSC was founded in 1972 and clarified its mission in the 1980’s to prevent the state from being carved up willy-nilly by gas pipelines, high tension corridors, and broadcast towers. With the sudden proliferation of cell towers beginning in late 1990’s, it became the most sued agency in Connecticut by both an arrogant upstart industry if applications were denied and by towns/citizens when bad sites were forced on them. CSC gradually formed a defensive posture that drives their decisions toward industry with deeper pockets and attorneys on retainer.
For citizens, nothing can wreck one’s day like the CSC. It behooves towns to protect what little toolkit they have, and understand the legal parameters of the CSC’s playing field. The CSC is not a “normal” government agency where municipal/citizen redress is based on logic and local support. Their process is largely immune to everything but specific kinds of evidence – like town regs with setbacks/fall zones, radio frequency transmission signal strengths, sensitive areas identified, and detailed wildlife inventory, among others.
There is a current cell tower fight involving two intervening towns -- Washington and Warren; both with good cell tower regs – over a tower site within 1200’ of a Montessori School, near Steep Rock’s nature preserves with comprehensive geology/wildlife databases that include endangered, threatened and special concern flora and fauna, on established federal/state migratory bird flyways, within throwing distance to a historic site capable of being listed on the Underground Railroad, and with an access road on a blind curve entering a state highway that will permanently damage wetlands, vernal pools, and core forests. There are well credentialed environmental experts, including Dr. Michael Klemens, former chair of Salisbury’s P&Z, as well as the former director of migratory bird management at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and an RF engineer testifying to alternative approaches, plus three attorneys representing intervenors. It is the most professional challenge I have seen at CSC since Falls Village successfully mounted one that protected Robbins Swamps several years ago.
The hearing is ongoing, with uncertain results. To see what it takes today to stop an inappropriate tower siting, see Docket #543 under “Pending Matters” at https://portal.ct.gov/csc before removing local cell tower regs – the lowest hanging fruit that any town can possess in case it’s needed.
B, Blake Levitt is the Communications Director at The Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council. She writes about how technology affects biology.