Another Wind Turbine Battle - Town of Gorham, NY

Speak up, Town of Gorham residents! Your silence is being taken as an endorsement for something that should be considered an industrial application in an agricultural district.

The town has drafted a law concerning commercial wind farms. The Town of Gorham wants to protect the aesthetics of the east side of the lake at the expense of the rest of the Town.

The Farmland, Open Space, and Resource Conservation Plan adopted in June 2005 has objectives that include “preserve the rural character of the Town”, “protect scenic views important to the community”, and “retain high-quality farmland for continued agricultural use”. A wind farm is in direct opposition to these objectives.

The preferred wind zone covers a large area from Routes 247 to 245, along County Rds. 17 and 18, Lake to Lake Rd., DePew Rd., Mumby Rd., Phelps and Conklin Rds. It surrounds Marcus Whitman high school and two Mennonite schoolhouses. Most of our town officials live either in the hamlet of Gorham or outside of this preferred area.

The law in its present form allows turbines with a maximum height of 400 feet, with a setback of minimum one and a half times that height from the neighboring property. We have visited the Wethersfield Wind Farm in Wyoming county, where the turbines are nearly 300 feet tall. We feel that a bare minimum setback of 1500 feet (or more) should be enforced, like our neighboring townships.

Noise levels are to be at 50dbA at the property line where a turbine is located. The noise under the Wethersfield turbines was deafening, like the sound of helicopters. We drove approximately 1/4 to 1/2 mile upwind from the turbines and still heard what a local resident referred to as “barking”. The noise was like the constant, repetitive howl of a hound dog.

An average of ten minutes a day of shadow flicker would be “acceptable”. Proper set back and placement of the turbines would eliminate intrusive flicker. Another concern is increased lightning strikes which can cause power surges.

We are not against alternative energy sources. We do believe, however, that any wind farm should be strictly regulated. We have seen more uproar over junk cars and barking dogs. You can tow the clunker to the junk yard, the dog can go up on the porch. What are you going to do about wind turbines except to say, “if we had only known...”?

Jeff & Debbie North
3175 County Rd. 18
Town of Gorham