Cohasset's first green project under the town's new wind turbine bylaw may soon be dead, after nearly two years of discussion and planning. Planning Board vice chairman Stuart Ivimey said last week he will not vote in favor of a special permit for a pair of commercial wind turbines proposed by a Plymouth company, leaving the project one vote short of approval.

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.

Ian Bowles, secretary of the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, sent a letter to the commission last week reaffirming the state Office of Coastal Zone Management's approval of Cape Wind's plan to build 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound. The commission and the CZM have disagreed on the proposal.

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.

A 106-page report by TRC Environmental Corp. found that regulatory hurdles for wind-power projects in Massachusetts are significant. The report's authors recommend a "one-stop shopping" approach: A developer would not be subject to extended appeals and separate certifications by state and local agencies.

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.

As the state pushes wind energy and communities create guidelines to accommodate it, those living in the shadow of Mark Richey's wind turbine wonder if the effort is at their expense. The Richey turbine meets the general spirit of the state's guidelines as well as the city's current wind turbine bylaw, under which Richey received a special permit that allows a turbine in an industrial zone to be at least 300 feet from a residential zone. ...As the city takes a closer look at its wind ordinance, neighbors are arguing that the rules most officials are accepting as well thought out are out of sync with reality.

Jason LaCroix, 14 Hill St., told councilors of the "human effect" the turbine has caused in the neighborhood. He recently purchased and put in a new glass door on his house. He had to take it out after he saw the shadows of the turbine's rotors on his wall reflecting off the glass. On his rooftop deck, the turbine is "virtually eye level," he said. The flicker study done for the Richey turbine wasn't accurate and minimized what impact it would have on the Back Bay neighborhood.

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.

The Cape Cod Commission has filed a letter with the state's Office of Coastal Zone Management objecting to the agency's approval of the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm. The April 1 letter outlines how the commission believed the plan by Cape Wind Associates LLC did not meet standards of the Cape Cod Regional Policy Plan and the local comprehensive plans for Yarmouth and Barnstable.

But this week, neighbors finally had a chance to weigh in on wind power at a meeting of the council’s Planning and Development Committee that was scheduled specifically to take a second look at the Wind Energy Conversion ordinance. Ward 2 City Councilor Greg Earls requested that the committee review regulations in the year-old law. Specifically, councilors are looking at dimensions, siting, density and required notification to neighbors.

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.