The Zoning Board of Appeals closed the public hearing for height and use variances for the proposed $57 million wind farm project last night. The board will discuss, and likely make, its decision at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The vote to close the public hearing for the variances for Douglas Woods Wind came after the board heard from researchers from the UMass Renewable Energy Research Laboratory in Amherst.

Wind turbines have been the hot topic in Cohasset for a number of months. As more information came out on the two-turbine project currently before the Planning Board many have called into question the zoning bylaw that allowed it to happen. To that point, two citizens came before Selectmen on Monday to request a Special Town Meeting to entertain the complete withdrawal of the wind energy conversion facility bylaw.

Five hours of deliberation, four motions proposed, three Planning Board members seemingly in favor of the two-wind turbine project, two huge wind turbines proposed for off Route 3A, one Planning Board member only willing to approve the project with one turbine and, at the end of the night, no decision. Despite what seemed to be a 3-1 split decision on approving the project as it was submitted, the Planning Board hesitated to take that leap. Because of the town's zoning bylaws, anything less than a unanimous vote on approving the project will effectively deny it.

The townspeople from all different points on the opinion spectrum have been heard on the project. Hundreds of pages of data, opinion and research from the applicant and concerned residents have been submitted to the planning board office. The public hearing process, which began in September, has been characterized by many late nights, heated arguments, passionate soliloquies and plenty of controversy.

After two years of talk, Town Meeting is poised to vote on a proposal that would allow residents, businesses and the town itself to harness wind power. Currently, the town does not have a wind turbine bylaw, and people are lining up on both sides of the new proposal. ...Town Meeting member Yaakov Cohn, who served on the wind turbine bylaw committee, called the proposal poorly written, weak and sloppy.

The zoning board of appeals heard a lot a questions and answers at Friday night's public hearing, but reached no conclusions on whether to grant a special permit to Minuteman Wind LLC for its proposed wind farm on West Hill. For over two hours, the board heard from both representatives of Minuteman Wind and several of the roughly 60 people who had gathered in the fire house.

Those hoping for some sort of resolution on the Cohasset Heights wind turbine project did not get it Wednesday night. Following a close to three-hour session on the controversial project, the Planning Board decided they needed a few more bits of information from the applicant before closing the public hearing.

The Planning Board is seeking to put two bylaw amendments on the warrant at the May 26 Annual Town Meeting that would regulate wind turbines. Town Planner Martha Taylor said one bylaw would allow small turbines without a special permit if they met certain criteria on factors such as height, noise and setback from the property line.

On the night the Zoning Board of Appeals was expected to approve height and use variances to advance one of the state's largest wind farms, the project nearly unraveled when one board member said he was reluctant to approve the request without independent review, causing the developer to threaten to withdraw the project.

That'll be the message from Cape Cod Commission to Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management. The commission voted unanimously on Monday to send a letter by Thursday, April 2, to the CZM with concerns about the consistency of Cape Wind's plans to build 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound with the Regional Policy Plan and local comprehensive plans of Yarmouth and Barnstable.

A group of residents and state environmentalists will appeal the court decision that cleared the way for a 30-megawatt wind turbine project on Bakke Mountain in Florida and Crum Hill in Monroe. The appeal will likely delay the $45 million project by a year at least. The group maintains the Department of Environmental Protection's acting commissioner, in approving a wetlands permit for the project, did not follow the agency's regulations.

Councilors agreed to re-examine the ordinance and possibly make changes after neighbors in the Back Bay neighborhood voiced their opposition to the 292-foot-tall turbine put up by business owner Mark Richey on his woodworking facility site in the industrial park. That turbine went up in January. Armed with materials, research and drafted changes to the ordinance, neighbors offered suggestions on how the document could be altered - the current setbacks need to be changed, they said, and to share what it's like to live in the turbine's shadow each day.

Minuteman Wind would like to begin construction of its $30 million, five-turbine wind energy project on West Hill sometime this fall, with completion slated for next year, but first faces the hurdles of town and state review. ...Marshall Rosenthal, a ZBA member, sees a number of outstanding issues with Minuteman's proposal, and expects to have some questions answered before the project moves beyond his board.

The controversial and long-delayed Cape Wind project - which could become the first offshore wind farm in the United States - is inching forward. The next milestone is a decision by the Interior Department about whether to issue a lease for the project (something that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar discussed during an interview with The New York Times last week). But if Cape Wind does manage to leap over all of its hurdles, the question remains: who will make the turbines?

With what could be the final public hearing on the proposed Cohasset Heights wind turbine development this coming Monday, many in town will make their concerns about the project heard by signing a petition. For the past few weeks, a group of residents in a private resident group calling themselves the Cohasset Wind Advisory Committee have been about town talking to residents about the concerns they have about the turbines - and asking if they share those views. As of Wednesday, the signatures on the petition numbered over 800.

About 20 of them turned out Monday at the selectmen's meeting to protest the proposed municipal wind turbine article that will be on the town meeting warrant in May. ...Gail Hoffman of Dyer Prence Road presented the selectmen a poster board filled with photos of Rock Harbor. "I am not opposed to green energy," but she wants Rock Harbor designated as a "very special place," she said. "This area is a treasure for the town. This is the last remaining piece of old Cape Cod," said Hoffman, and urged them to "proceed with caution" with any proposed changes.

The Cape Cod Commission will hold a public meeting March 30 to review comments on a state decision to sign off on the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm. The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management issued a pair of certifications in January that the project met state standards for projects in federal waters. The Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) is responsible for balancing human activities and the protection of coastal and marine resources.

The Zoning Board of Appeals had a number of questions as it reviewed the special permit application by Minuteman Wind, LLC to install five, 425-foot wind turbines on 290 acres of West Hill. Board member Marshall Rosenthal made a statement to the board and the dozen audience members in which he pointed out the company's "obvious deficiencies and failures to disclose pertinent information" in the special permit application.

Hull first got the go-ahead for four wind turbines about 1½ miles off Nantasket Beach last year, but the permitting process has been both lengthy and expensive. Constructing four 3- to 3.5-megawatt turbines isn't just about getting construction crews out on the ocean.