Will Sherwood, Mayor - Village of Naples, NY letter

Village of Naples New York
P.O. Box 386, 106 South Main Street Phone: (585) 374-2435
Naples, New York 14512 Fax: (585) 374-2441

April 28, 2006

Mr. Jack Zigenfus, Supervisor
Town of Cohocton
6 West Main Street
Atlanta, New York 14826

Dear Supervisor Zigenfus,

While I wholeheartedly support exploration and research into alternative energy sources, I am also deeply concerned about Cohocton’s plans to install wind turbines within sight of the Village of Naples.

Your selected sites on Pine Hill will be within a few short miles of our village center and due to their proximity, their colossal scale and the actual locations they will be seen from virtually every spot in the village. Their presence will set a precedent for future installations within sight of the village. With this letter I formally ask that the village of Naples be granted “Interested Party” status in the SEQRA process. We ask that this letter be put into the public record as you move forward in your SEQRA review.

Is this a case of NIMBY? You bet. As a community that is dependant on the tourism industry, we are deeply troubled by the looming visual presence of these huge monoliths effecting our view-shed. Their presence will surely impact the environment here in the Village with the word environment being defined in the SEQRA regulations to include “the existing community or neighborhood character”, having “historic and aesthetic significance”.

Naples is famous for its beauty and even the most naïve observer could not fail to register the negative influence that the turbines presence could have on life in our village.

We see another potential impact to the village with the likelihood that trucks carrying component parts might come down Route 21, through the village and could realistically tie up traffic, before during and after their installation. Naples has suffered immeasurably as a result of the 2004 spring storms and the resultant washout damage done to Route 21. For the last two years, our tourism has been at a modern day low and even today, Route 21 is closed off for three months as the DOT works to make those repairs permanent. I can’t imagine how our restaurants and sundry other tourist related businesses will stay open should the routes used by the trucks need augmenting either in preparation for or as a result of the moving process.

I beg you to cease and desist, to cancel this project before it does irreparable harm to the character of our community and the economic viability of our entire region.

Very Truly Yours;

Will Sherwood, Mayor