A controversial solar farm proposed in Charlotte has moved a step closer to reality.
A hearing officer for the Vermont Public Service Board is recommending the PSB give the go-ahead for the Charlotte Solar Farm, a 2.2-megawatt project that’s tentatively slated for a field off Hinesburg Road in East Charlotte. As Seven Days reported in July, a group of six neighbors has fought hard to block the project, which they worry will affect property values and quality of life in their rural neighborhood.
Despite neighbors’ concerns, hearing officer Jake Marren is recommending the PSB approve the project with a few small concessions, including a 10 percent reduction in the solar farm’s footprint; solar panels will take up 15 acres. That recommendation came in the Proposal for Decision (download that document here) issued Sept. 4 and delivered to the town of Charlotte last Thursday.
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Once the project is in place an running there’s very little impact except you see the panels. No smoke, noise or truck traffic is involved and you can graze livestock among the panels to keep the grass down and not have to mow with noisy machines. these people need to take a chill pill and realize everyone has to make some sacrifice if we’re to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels. What do they think is better? A smoke stack, a massive power line running through their town, an extended life for that reck os a nuclear power plant called Vt Yankee or some solar panels, when installed make no noise or pollution? Choose people and think before you go setting your hair on fire..
I’d like to see one single study that proves that having a renewable energy project nearby, reduces property values. I am not aware of a single one. I do not believe it will affect the value of anyone’s property.
Since when do we have a constitutional right that says a neighbor can do nothing on her property that will affect the value of my property?
Ms. Bassett says that the proposed ruling “makes a mockery [of] Vermont’s laws and social compact,” Really? Exactly which laws does it “make a mockery” of? Vermont law promotes the use of renewable energy, and absolutely NOTHING in the Charlotte town plan prohibits the siting of renewable energy facilities, including solar farms — anywhere. And what exactly is contained in the “social compact,” and where is that enshrined in Vermont law? Apparently, “social compact” is code for: “I don’t own your land, but I get to stop you from doing something with it that I don’t like — even if it’s totally legal, and I get to make my objections based on my own subjective likes and dislikes.” I.e., the “social compact is code for subjective NIMBYism.
What about people who are so offended by the sight of solar panels that they don’t want them on a neighbor’s roof? Doesn’t Ms. Bassett have solar panels on her roof? She did not ask me or anyone for permission before she installed them. It’s okay for her to put solar panels on her roof, without asking me or anybody else, but it is not ok for her neighbor to put solar panels on their ground. Some would call that hypocrisy. Some would call that chutzpah.
The “social compact” requires us to make sacrifices for the common good — like paying taxes, etc. Obama just urged us all to be “citizens,” not individuals.
Vermonters have to stop believing that they co-own everybody else’s property.