GOSHEN - A spokesman for Optiwind, a renewable energy company focused on wind power, said the company plans on appealing a decision by the Goshen Planning and Zoning Commission to reject a proposal to build a nearly 200-foot wind turbine.

Spokesman David Hurwitt said his company plans on filing the appeal with the Litchfield County Superior Court within the two-week deadline. The town mandates the appeal process be done through the superior court, he said, following two weeks after the notice is officially published.

In a 5-0 vote, Planning and Zoning rejected the proposal citing the concerns of adverse effects on the existing neighborhood and property values of the Woodridge Lake Sewer District. One commissioner noted that the town has a rural character that would be affected by the wind turbine.

The Torrington-based Optiwind first applied for the site plan application in June 2008, and residents came to public hearings on the matter from January to March. The proposed site was 113 Brush Hill Road.

Despite the delay, Spokesman David Hurwitt said the company has been working on a number of sites and locations around the state and plans to go ahead with those other areas. Hurwitt declined to release those site names Tuesday, although he said they were in Connecticut.

"Our strategy has never been to put all of our chips on Goshen," he said. "We'll move forward with other sites."

The proposal in Goshen came when the Woodridge Lake Sewer District Board was actively looking for alternative energy solutions, Hurwitt said. The company took up the offer to propose one of it's wind turbines, which it has touted as being smaller and less audible.

Other public and private entities - apart from the board - have reached out to Optiwind to offer up site ideas, Hurwitt said.