At last, a shift in the wind

For many sitting in Highland’s venerable courtroom Monday, there was, for the first time, a sense that all the controversy surrounding the county’s decision to allow an industrial wind utility could be settled with a sense of dignity and within the bounds of jurisprudence.

After years of feeling unheard and overlooked, the county majority opposed to the project are soon to get an objective, meaningful review of their position. It’s a shame it took a lawsuit to get here, but that’s where we are.

The 32 landowners who filed that suit in August were clearly pleased with their own attorney, David Bailey, whose precise arguments won the day and resulted in a trial date at which they will, finally, be given the opportunity to show, in straightforward legal terms, why they believe supervisors made mistakes along the way. Though the hearing did not shed light on or necessarily advance the merits of their case, it was a procedural victory they deserved — and one vital to getting to the heart of the matter: Representative government.

Highland County and Highland New Wind Development should also be pleased with the respect and appreciation shown them by the judge. Attorneys defending the county, Greg Haley and Melissa Dowd, were well-prepared and well-spoken, as was Brian Brake who represented the developer. All gave solid arguments on their clients’ behalf. On most points of contention, the court’s decision hung in the balance as first one and then the other side made persuasive points.

But it was the retired judge from Arlington who ultimately set the tone. Paul Sheridan’s soft-spoken presence, preparedness, and sense of fairness put many minds at ease this week. There was something affirming about his ability to listen, question, and draw conclusions in an objective manner that contained none of the tense emotion that’s been attached to this debate for so long.

Those attending had to have come away confident that Sheridan had not only studied hard the thorough briefs presented him by the two sides before taking the bench, but after doing so had developed a sincere interest in the importance of what was before him. While he was dispassionate, neither was he clinical or aloof. We can be certain he will continue to sink his teeth into this case and his final decision will be one based on a complete understanding of the events that led him to our neck of the woods.

We were impressed that he was impressed with the presentations of all attorneys involved, and the way they conducted themselves, and he told them so. He does not strike one as a man who suffers fools gladly — professionalism in his courtroom, we gather, is expected and rewarded. He set the perfect tone for what is to follow.

More importantly, Sheridan’s ruling on the county’s permit decision knocked a hole in the prevailing legal sentiment that local government can do what it wants short of criminal activity on the basis that reasonable people can disagree with the conclusions they reach on land use decisions or anything else. He chose full disclosure over tossing the suit out on a technicality. If he weren’t interested in seeing justice done properly and thoroughly, he could have punched his ticket home and been done with it.

As a result, the county will need to continue to pay for expensive legal support at least through the trial date of June 14 — something Sheridan did not take lightly. The more than $30,000 invested just in the last six months on the county’s side is taxpayer money. How ironic is it those taxpayers opposed to industrial scale wind here are funding the supervisors’ defense while at the same time forking out considerable dollars to fund their case against that board. Had supervisors paid attention to the majority will, none of this would have gotten so far.

At least now HNWD and our supervisors, who have remained aloof and uninformative throughout this ordeal, will be required to explain their reasoning in open court. They can no longer say they would like to tell us why they chose this path, but couldn’t for fear of a lawsuit. They won’t have to worry about that on June 14.

Best of all, the court’s decision will not be decided on sentiment, convenience or vague generalities. Probably the most important decision ever to be made in Highland County is going to be decided on evidence.