The Enfield Town Board passed a wind law Wednesday night by a vote of 4-0 after two years of work. The passage of the law, which maintains setbacks of approximately 450 feet from occupied structures and 100 feet from property lines, will allow wind farm developer John Rancich to proceed with development plans. ... Supervisor Frank Podufalski acknowledged that the town's local law is at the low end of NYSERDA guidelines, but said the guidelines in the law will fit for Enfield.

In the wake of a state Supreme Court decision striking down Hamlin's law regulating wind turbines, town officials plan to begin crafting a new law as soon as possible. "We're looking at various options," said Town Supervisor Denny Roach, adding that he was "surprised and disappointed" by the Jan. 5 ruling from Justice David M. Barry nullifying wind turbine laws crafted through more than two years of public hearings, committee meetings and research.

A group of Hamlin residents concerned that new town laws regulating wind towers would allow unfettered wind farms to destroy their town's rural character have won a significant victory in state Supreme Court. ...The group claimed the town board ignored recommendations of its Wind Tower Committee - which included four of the 39 residents who filed the suit - to establish 1,500-foot setbacks from roads and property lines and 2,640-foot setbacks from homes.

The Wind Energy Law adopted in April 2008 by the Monroe County Town of Hamlin has been "set aside and annulled" by the Hon. David Michael Barry, Justice of New York State's Supreme Court, in an "Order and Judgment" granted on January 5, 2009. The court's decision concludes that the Hamlin Town Board violated the requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) when it neither took a "hard look" at the relevant areas of environmental concern, nor set forth a "reasoned elaboration" for its determination that the wind energy law would not have a significant impact on the environment.

A law regulating the creation of wind farms here was repealed Monday by the Hammond Town Board. The wind ordinance was rescinded at the advice of the town attorney pending a state Environmental Quality Review (SEQR), town officials said. The decision to overturn the law was made unanimously after an executive session at the year-end meeting Monday. The environmental review requires the board to identify and mitigate any significant environmental impacts that may stem from the ordinance.

The town of Orleans plans to create a Citizens Wind Committee in January, but with fewer members than anticipated. ...the proposed wind committee [] would help the Town Council make informed decisions regarding wind development.

The final scope of the Westfield-Ripley wind project will include 83 wind turbines: 47 in Westfield and 36 in Ripley. ...The next immediate step for Babcock and Brown is the preparation of the environmental impact study, which must be filed with SEQR and accepted as complete by both towns. There will be a public hearing and a minimum of a 30-day period for public comment.

Both developers of wind farms in the town have asked for a quick conclusion to the wind law committee's work. After the committee met Thursday afternoon, representatives from Acciona talked to Supervisor Thomas K. Rienbeck. He said Friday that they expressed concern about the time frame remaining on the development of a zoning law that will govern turbine siting.

"Two years ago in 2006 I made the statement that the town board was committed to a project, maybe not the size that was presented, but a project. It's been two years and the resource is still there,'' Garretson said Monday in an interview. "I want to see if there is support for a town project. I won't say what size, but a project.'' ..."It may be a smaller scale. We'll have to see,'' he said. "I'm not going to force anything on anybody.''

In response to the growth of wind farms in neighboring communities, the Holland Town Board has approved a six-month moratorium on such developments. "We thought it might be prudent to impose a moratorium until such time that a local law is approved," Supervisor Michael Kasprzyk. "There are no projects currently in the works."

The newly formed Wind Law Review Committee will meet in secret for several months before it makes recommendations to the Town Council regarding wind turbine noise and setbacks. The 10-member committee plans to hold its first meeting in January. The group will gather community input and also discuss potential health risks related to wind farms.

An opponent of the wind turbine at Sullivan County Community College has sued to stop the project, claiming the Town of Fallsburg broke its own rules when it granted a special-use permit. Kenneth Walter, whose mother lives roughly 500 feet away from the turbine site, filed the lawsuit Dec. 3 in county Supreme Court. Walter has been a staunch opponent of the project since its inception in 2007. He believes noise from the turbine would ruin his mother's quality of life on the family's defunct chicken farm that abuts the college's property.

Watertown attorney David P. Antonucci, representing Concerned Residents of Hammond, filed the lawsuit in state Supreme Court here. The town has 20 days to respond to the lawsuit, once it is served. The lawsuit alleges the wind farm ordinance approved Oct. 27 by the Hammond Town Council should be overturned because the environmental review process was not followed properly. The ordinance created regulations for wind farms, including setbacks, heights and locations for wind turbines in the town.

A law in the town of Centerville regulating wind farms was annulled by the state Supreme Court's Appellate Division because the town failed to comply with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR). ...The decision, which was made on Nov. 14, was prompted by a lawsuit from the Centerville Concerned Citizens (CCC), a group of landowners in the town who claimed that the Centerville Town Board worked along with the Noble Environmental Power to craft a local law that accommodates Noble's proposed Centerville Windpark without fully looking at the environmental impacts.

The Farmersville Town Board voted Monday to replace its 2007 town law regulating wind farm projects with a shorter and more general version, while also lifting last month's temporary moratorium against wind energy facilities. "The old law had stuff that should have been in a host community agreement [between the town and the wind farm developer] and not in the law itself," said Town Supervisor Joe Brodka.

While satisfied with existing wind turbines, town officials are looking to better regulate any future wind projects, both large and small. "We just want to make sure they are done to manufacturers' specs," Lowville Town Supervisor Arleigh D. Rice said. The Town Council earlier this month held a public hearing on a proposed wind power zoning law but is awaiting review by the Lewis County Planning Board before adopting it, Mr. Rice said.

The Holland Town Board, in the initial stages of writing a law on wind farms in the town, may adopt a moratorium on such entities as early as next month. Wednesday, the board unanimously approved a public hearing for 8 p. m. Dec. 10 to impose a moratorium on wind farms until a local law regulating them has been adopted. Eleven months ago, the board organized a subcommittee to investigate the sometimes controversial source of power. Since then, the group has studied various town ordinances to create a law that will suit the town.

No action was taken on the proposed Enfield wind law Wednesday, but town officials did discuss revisions to the law. Town Supervisor Frank Podufalski read recommendations from the Tompkins County Planning Department to about 25 people in attendance that suggest a decrease in the allowance for noise, permit fees and increased setbacks from property lines and easements.

Windmills were put on hold in the town of Throop as the board voted unanimously to impose a six-month windmill moratorium at its Wednesday night meeting. No site plan approvals, building permits or certificates of compliance, variances, or requests for rezoning related to wind power generating facilities will be considered for six months after the moratorium law is filed with the state.

The setbacks in the proposed Enfield wind law are not large enough, according to a letter from the Tompkins County Planning Department to Town Supervisor Frank Podufalski, but following that advice could kill the wind farm proposal for a site near Connecticut Hill. The planning department recommends increased setbacks between property lines and the wind towers ...If the Enfield Town Board does not adopt the recommendations, it will need a supermajority, which means four votes on the five-member board, to pass the proposal into law.