HORSE CREEK: Its extension period voted down by Clayton, Iberdrola gets ready to start from scratch
CLAYTON — Horse Creek Wind Farm's developer said Friday that an application for the project will be submitted again.
On Thursday night, the joint town and village Planning Board voted down a measure to extend a suspension of consideration of the project for a third yearlong period.
As a result, Iberdrola Renewables, developer of the proposed 62-turbine project, must submit a new application, which would start at square one, with choosing lead agency for the state environmental quality review.
"While we would have liked to have received the extension since the delay was largely beyond our control, we continue to believe the area is a good site for a wind farm, and will continue pursuing the Horse Creek development by resubmitting the appropriate materials," communications manager Paul N. Copleman wrote in an e-mail.
He did not say when that would happen.
Town Supervisor Justin A. Taylor said in an e-mail Saturday that the town had $8,000 in legal fees and $7,000 in non-legal fees related to the now-dead application.
Opponents of the project as it stood were relieved at the board's decision.
"As the Planning Board members mentioned, a lot has happened in those years and a lot of information has come to light," said Cindy L. Grant, member of Environmentally Concerned Citizens Organization, which has called for stricter zoning of the project.
But project supporters said they believe the delay actually will help the project.
"I don't believe it is going to be a setback whatsoever," said Kevin J. Forkey, a leading landowner in the project. "It might be beneficial because it will give us a chance to revisit all aspects of the project."
Even restarting the lengthy environmental review process could be good for the project, he said.
"The only change possible is lead agency and that would probably be to our benefit," he said.
He suggested that Iberdrola held up partly because of the town's extended discussion on zoning law revisions.
In May 2009, after the second extension from the Planning Board, Jenny L. Burke, business manager for Iberdrola, told the Town Council that the company would have to know what the changes in the zoning law would be if key studies would be continued. That included working on a biological assessment of Indiana bats and submitting a supplemental draft environmental impact statement.
In her letter requesting the third extension, Ms. Burke pointed to ongoing uncertainty about the project's effect on Indiana bats, a federally listed endangered species.
"While zoning uncertainties persisted until last month, we are now in a better position to move forward with a planned layout, and study the environmental, community and engineering implications," Mr. Copleman wrote Friday. "As before our requested extension, we continue to work with state and federal officials to evaluate what this project may mean for the Indiana Bat."
Mr. Forkey said he'd appreciate an opportunity to talk about the environmental benefits of the project, such as burning more than 6 million tons of coal less over 20 years to create electricity.
"The only issues that seem to be discussed are the supposed health and safety risks and monetary benefits," he said.
While he downplayed the health and safety arguments, Mrs. Grant said they deserve more scrutiny than they received in the first application.
"Clearly, the noise issue would be more closely looked at," she said. "The health and safety of the citizens would be compromised if the project had been constructed as Iberdrola had wished."
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