LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Litchfield residents file lawsuit against Town Board 

Credit:  By: Jeanette Lenoir | wibx950.com 3 August 2012 ~~

An on-going renewable energy dispute among members of a small Southern Herkimer County community is headed to court. Five individuals from the Town of Litchfield just filed a lawsuit against their Town Board, alleging violations of Municipal laws concerning wind energy development.

The attorney representing the group, Meave Tooher, with Tooher & Barone, LLP, says the aim is to invalidate the recently passed Town law that bans community scale wind turbines from coming into the community. “The considerations that are set forth in the local law, we believe are without basis in fact, and are basically used as a pretext to prohibit these facilities without looking at the real facts and circumstances,” she said.

Jake Rasbach is one of the petitioners named in the lawsuit. He says at issue is: local officials prohibiting land owners from using their property as they see fit. “fifteen years ago my father and I had some people approach us on a project over windmills and everybody wanted it, but it just didn’t happen. And then, I think it was four years ago now, these people approached us again, Northwind, and all these new people have moved into town, you know, they own one acre of land, and want to tell everybody what to do with their land,” he said. Rasbach, who owns about 400 acres of land in the area, has essentially been prohibited from leasing his property to Northwind & Power, the energy company proposing to build 8 to 12 wind turbines on his land, after the Town Board voted in March of this year to ban the installation of any power generating project over 22 megawatts.

Tooher says the Northwind & Power project is a good example to use when describing how the ban law violates the rights of Litchfield residents in favor of the project. “This law without basis would basically prohibit consideration of that type of a project. So, what we would like to see is to have the law struck down. It was enacted in violations of the procedures that are necessary in enacting this type of law; they did not do an adequate review under the state environmental quality review act, they did not follow the open meetings law, the law it self was voted into law at a meeting that was done on only one days public notice–there’s requirements for the Town Board to comply with both the technical and the substantive requirements of enacting a local law, and they need to answer to all of the people of the town,” she said.

The dispute dating back to 2009, has since divided the community between those who see the Northwind & Power windmill project as beneficial, and those who view it as harmful. The lawsuit petitioners are: Shelby and Richard Barrett, John Chapman, Brian Landsphere and Jake Rasbach. The lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of New York in Herkimer County. Calls to Town of Litchfield Board Supervisor, James Entwistle have not been returned at the time of this publication.

Source:  By: Jeanette Lenoir | wibx950.com 3 August 2012

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon