The Harvard Planning Board will not follow up on its 2009 attempt to pass a bylaw that would have allowed wind turbines—by special permit only—in Harvard’s residential districts. Last year’s Annual Town Meeting (ATM) voted to take no action on the bylaw, leaving the door open for another version of it to be offered this year. But this week, Planning Board Chairman Joe Sudol said that the board and critics of the bylaw had not produced a new version for May ATM.
After last year’s vote, where debate centered on what critics said was a too-restrictive bylaw, Sudol had said the board would work with wind energy proponents “to develop a set of recommendations that could be supported by the entire community,” according to a Press article at the time.
John Sweeney of Madigan Lane, citizen sponsor of an unsuccessful 2008 ATM bid to allow wind turbines by right in Harvard, was one proponent who was tapped by the board to work on a possible 2010 bylaw. “I thought we reached some common ground,” Sweeney said, citing two discussions with the board last year and his offer to serve on a wind energy conversion committee, similar to the group of local energy experts that advised the Planning Board in 2007. “I was hoping they’d take the lead on it,” he added, noting that his primary goal is to “avoid a tedious, expensive approval process.” Sweeney acknowledged the difficulty in bridging the gap between the uncomplicated, by-right policy he prefers and the painstaking requirements proposed by special permit proponents.
A stringent special permit process is what the Planning Board wants, though. “I believe [the board] agreed that the bylaw that was proposed at the 2009 ATM was appropriate, maybe with some minor tweaking.” Sudol said, adding, “[The board] agreed that a ‘by-right’ bylaw with no restrictions was not in the best interest of the town.”
Whether having a wind energy bylaw would advance Harvard’s chances of winning a Green Community designation from the state is uncertain, but guidelines imply that municipal wind energy systems are what the state most wants to encourage. (Systems mentioned in the guidelines are larger than typical home systems, say those familiar with turbine technology.) Green designation qualifies towns for grants to finance energy-saving initiatives.
“Guidelines are evolving,” explained Selectman Tim Clark, citing what he learned at a Green Community seminar last year. Oak Hill Road resident Eric Broadbent of the Harvard Energy Advisory Committee (HEAC) said his group was “seeking clarification” about the financial benefit to enacting a bylaw, but focused on the substance of wind energy in Harvard.
“On principle, we should have a bylaw, even if it’s not an easy thing. It’s only viable in a few areas and not practical for most,” Broadbent said.
Meanwhile, the Planning Board appears to be shifting its focus from backyard to municipal wind systems, influenced in part by the state’s green guidelines. “I think the board would be more inclined to support a commercial bylaw rather than a residential bylaw, Sudol said, especially for “schools and municipal buildings.”