Acquiring LeBlanc property for open space called "best option" to protect Charlestown residents
By Will Collette
The Charlestown Democratic Town Committee (CDTC) weighed in with its opinion on how to resolve the controversial Whalerock wind turbine project: stop focusing on short-term delaying tactics and shift instead to good faith negotiations so Larry LeBlanc's prime and strategic 81 acres can be acquired as open space.
The CDTC noted its opposition to Whalerock based on its belief that Whalerock is “the wrong technology in the wrong location.” Click here to read the full statement by town Democrats.
The Committee has sent its resolution of opposition to Whalerock and support for open space acquisition to the town for inclusion in the Zoning Board of Review's hearing record on the project.
The CDTC also pointedly noted that they still support wind power as an important source of green energy and a necessary part of the nation's strategy to reduce its reliance on greenhouse gas producing fossil fuels.
In November 2011, the CDTC testified against the CCA Party's ordinance that effectively bans all wind power generators, regardless of size or type, anywhere in Charlestown. CDTC Vice-Chair and unsuccessful Town Council candidate Tim Quillen testified that placing expensive and impossible-to-meet restrictions on residential wind turbines was dishonest.
Said Quillen: "I understand that the majority of the Planning Commission and Town Council members oppose wind energy in all its forms. But don’t try to pretend otherwise by burdening Charlestown homeowners with a FAKE residential wind ordinance. The total wind energy ban you enacted in September [2011] was pretty terrible, but at least it was an honest expression of your views on alternative energy."
The CCA Party Town Council majority tried to ban Quillen from speaking on behalf of town Democrats, but their ban was revoked after Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero warned them that their restriction on the CDTC's right to speak was probably illegal.
The town's efforts to try to block the Whalerock wind project by passing a ban on wind energy failed to withstand court appeals by Whalerock owner Larry LeBlanc not once but twice.
One CDTC member commented to me that now Charlestown is in the ironic position of having effectively banned all wind energy generators except Whalerock.
The Charlestown Democratic Town Committee (CDTC) weighed in with its opinion on how to resolve the controversial Whalerock wind turbine project: stop focusing on short-term delaying tactics and shift instead to good faith negotiations so Larry LeBlanc's prime and strategic 81 acres can be acquired as open space.
The CDTC noted its opposition to Whalerock based on its belief that Whalerock is “the wrong technology in the wrong location.” Click here to read the full statement by town Democrats.
The Committee has sent its resolution of opposition to Whalerock and support for open space acquisition to the town for inclusion in the Zoning Board of Review's hearing record on the project.
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| Though Whalerock is NOT banned under Charlestown's wind ordinance, all other forms of wind generators are. |
In November 2011, the CDTC testified against the CCA Party's ordinance that effectively bans all wind power generators, regardless of size or type, anywhere in Charlestown. CDTC Vice-Chair and unsuccessful Town Council candidate Tim Quillen testified that placing expensive and impossible-to-meet restrictions on residential wind turbines was dishonest.
Said Quillen: "I understand that the majority of the Planning Commission and Town Council members oppose wind energy in all its forms. But don’t try to pretend otherwise by burdening Charlestown homeowners with a FAKE residential wind ordinance. The total wind energy ban you enacted in September [2011] was pretty terrible, but at least it was an honest expression of your views on alternative energy."
The CCA Party Town Council majority tried to ban Quillen from speaking on behalf of town Democrats, but their ban was revoked after Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero warned them that their restriction on the CDTC's right to speak was probably illegal.
The town's efforts to try to block the Whalerock wind project by passing a ban on wind energy failed to withstand court appeals by Whalerock owner Larry LeBlanc not once but twice.
One CDTC member commented to me that now Charlestown is in the ironic position of having effectively banned all wind energy generators except Whalerock.