Spafford passes windmill law

Spafford Supervisor Webb Stevens said the town's new windmill law is about getting control of the size of windmills built in the town.

The town board voted 5-0 Thursday to pass a local law that will allow residents to construct windmills that are no more than 60 feet tall. The vote came after a public hearing on the law attended by more than 60 people at Spafford Town Hall.

Some residents are concerned the law will eventually lead to wind farms with windmills 260 feet or taller. They asked for a moratorium to further study noise and other effects of windmills, but Stevens said a moratorium "only delays the inevitable."

"If you want to sit there and let it drop like a hot potato, then you can live with it," Stevens said. "I'm trying to do what's best for this community, and we need control."

The law will go into effect in about a month, after it's approved by the state.

The majority of people who attended the hour-long hearing were in favor of the law. When one man who was videotaping the hearing asked for a show of hands, about 30 people raised their hands in support of the law and about 10 raised their hands against it. When the law passed, many people clapped and cheered.

After the first public hearing on the law July 10, the board asked its attorney to make changes to address residents' concerns. Those changes included setting a height limit and lowering the noise level from the property line from 50 to 40 decibels.

One other change was made Thursday. The law originally said no more than one windmill would be allowed on each parcel. Some residents were concerned that other residents could subdivide their land into several parcels, allowing for multiple windmills.

The board agreed to change the wording so an individual with multiple parcels can still put only one windmill on his or her property.

Resident Rose Gay said she was concerned that anyone who wants to erect a windmill taller than 60 feet can still request a special permit from the zoning board. She asked if residents could be "assured" that the town would reject such a request

Stevens repeated that the law allows for personal windmills only.

"The only thing I can assure is death and taxes," he said. "That's a ridiculous question."

"I don't think it is," said Gay, who added that she's worried about the noise and the potential for commercial wind farms.

Most of the 25 people who spoke were in favor of the law and said windmills will help the environment and reduce energy costs. Opponents were worried about the noise and the impact on the town's pastoral landscape.

"Do you want to look at windmills," resident Steve White said, "or do you want to look at high utility bills and pictures of our soldiers getting killed saving our oil?"