Falmouth Enterprise 3/15/11 Abutters Of Notus Wind Turbine File Complaints With Appeals Board
Abutters Of Notus Wind Turbine File Complaints With Appeals Board
By BRENT RUNYON Falmouth Enterprise
March 15, 2011
For the first time at a public hearing, Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals addressed complaints from 36 abutters of the Notus Clean Energy wind turbine at Falmouth Technology Park Thursday night, noting that the large turbine causes “an undue interference with the use and enjoyment of the nearby residential properties.” That language is taken directly from the special permit issued by the board of appeals in 2008, which allowed the construction of the turbine. Daniel H. Webb, the owner of Notus Clean Energy, commissioned a sound study after the complaint, which showed that the turbine was operating within acceptable sound limits.
But the abutters have challenged the conclusions in the sound study, stating that the data was not averaged to Department of Environmental Protection standards, leaving the board of appeals unsure of how to proceed. “If this is a question of how you average the data, and the data exists, can’t you re-average the data?” asked board member Kenneth H. Foreman. He suggested the board could hire a third party consultant to interpret the data. “We don’t have the funding,” said Chairman Matthew J. McNamara. The Town of Falmouth professional staff does not have the skills to interpret the data, he said.
“Obviously this is a big deal to everyone involved,” said vice chairman Dennis D. Murphy. With more time needed to study the problem and investigate whether hiring a third party consultant was plausible, the board decided to continue the discussion until April 14.
