BP Wants To Violate Our Comp Plan and Zoning- That Is No Secret! - Psssst, But Here Is a Secret...So Does Our Town Board!!!

I have been reading the Town of Cape Vincent's response to BP's scoping statement.  I am not posting the letter here since it is already on both CV blogs and at the NY PSC website where you can read it and I'm sure many have already.  Below is the link to the PSC comments website.

http://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/MatterManagement/CaseMaster.aspx?MatterSeq=40867

But here we go again with this absurd solar idea.  Here are some statements from the Town's letter to BP and the NYPSC.

"The Town urges BP and the Siting Board to consider a solar project to

demonstrate that solar is a better fit for not only Cape Vincent, but for all

New York communities with natural and community resources similar to the

Town of Cape Vincent."

"A solar renewable project alternative should be provided by BP to

demonstrate that solar is environmentally friendly while wind is an

environmental disaster."

First of all get a clue.  BP is OUT of the solar business!!!  Gee think that might be relevant if you are writing a letter so important?????? It makes the letter look ridiculous and badly out of touch.  Hey....maybe we could ask Ford to manufacture us an Edsall too!!!  Oh I forgot...we already have one of those in town!!!
 
 Now I have gone on and on about the town officials and their "green dream" and apparent willingness to spend your tax  dollars as subsidies to encourage BP or anyone else to put up a commercial solar project.  To sooth their apparent green guilt and appease Cuomo and the Art X board, they seem to have a willingness to spend your hard earned money to support these ridiculous industrial renewable projects, and I guess they have a green need to put up a solar project,  to prove how "reasonable" they are.   And apparently they are so eager or desperate ( or confused ) to go "green"  that they are willing to violate our very own comp plan that the town worked so hard on and takes so much pride in.

So read and look below and you be the judge!
Compare these statements from our comp plan, with these images I have taken of industrial solar projects in Nevada.  One owned by Acciona.  It is just as insane as wind development.  The town board without your input mind you, is just selling you another industrial renewable tax scam!  Keep in mind the scale of these projects and that they are large invasive INDUSTRIAL projects.  That is why in Nevada they sit on huge remote tracts of vacant land south of  Las Vegas ZONED for large scale renewable INDUSTRIAL projects.

It ain't Cape Vincent folks!!!!

Here is the vision statement of our comp plan.

Cape Vincent's Vision Statement:


“Cape Vincent is a small-town, rural community with unique scenic, historical and natural resources. We are committed to preserving these essential qualities that make it a desirable place to live, while seeking to improve the local economy by promoting compatible residential and small business growth.”

See anything in here about large industrial solar or other such projects??????

So when in the hell did the town officials suddenly decide, with out any community input or any science , or experts, studies or research, to back up this industrial solar nonsense, that solar was suddenly a "good fit" for Cape Vincent???? 

Believe me it is NOT, and if you experienced one of these industrial solar projects up close you would not want to live near them any more than you would a wind project, and they would do much the same to nearby property values as industrial wind would.  But in their apparent green arrogance to think they know better, they are selling BP, the State, AND YOU, a pointless solar project.  There is NO logic, or CONSISTENT thinking in this ridiculous solar scheme, and  in one of the least sunniest places in the nation to boot!! In their illusions that they can beat Art X they have now become irrational!

Here is what our comp plan says for the CV agricultural interior.

Discourage:

"Any industrial, commercial or utility development whose influence would have a negative impact on health, safety, scenic and natural resources, property values,recreational opportunities and tourism assets."

 Look at these pictures of industrial / commercial solar installations.  Do you HONESTLY think this is a "good fit" for CV and complies with our comp plan?????  Pure "green" nonsense.  Not to mention we have no provisions in our comp plan or our zoning for these types of large industrial projects, no matter if they stick up in the air like wind turbines or sprawl over hundreds of acres of habitat scraped clean on the ground fro solar.

The large building in this picture is not a direct part of the solar installation.  It is a gas plant zoned for the same energy industrial area, and apparently provides back up for the solar because it is intermittent just like wind energy.

       The large industrial structures in this photo ARE part of the this (Acciona's)
   industrial solar operation.  Want to live next to that?  Does that
     comply with our comp plan and zoning?  Do you think
this type of  industrial complex represents a "good

fit" for our community?  Get serious!!!

Here is another thing the comp plan says about the CV agricultural interior.

Encourage:

"Residential development along water district corridors. Agriculture as well as small, alternative agricultural development that might offset the loss of some dairy operations, for example, wineries and local produce. Commercial development, but with
development that will have minimal adverse agricultural, environmental and human impacts."
    Now let me see...when I took the pictures of these industrial solar installations there weren't any cattle grazing under or around them, or vineyards, or other produce being grown under or around them either.  There weren't any nice neighborhoods hooked up to residential water districts. Why? Because they are zoned as they should be as large heavy industrial zones!!!!   And the ground was scaped clean for hundreds of acres with nothing but flat dirt underneath.  Not exactly environmentally friendly to numerous bird and animal ground species and plants.     AND THEY SURE AS HELL WEREN'T SMALL!!!   So what about this do our town officers not get!  The town officers who are supporting this nonsense should go back and do some more research on zoning and how it is supposed to work in a rational mind! Because apparently they missed something fundamental in zoning school!  Does our com plan or our zoning have provsions for large sprawling industrial energy zones and projects???  I read them both.  Did I miss something?    So when did the town officials simply take it upon themselves to ignore our comp plan and zoning?  You know kinda like our previous old boards did!   The same zoning they are claiming will save us from Art X.   I guess you can't blame BP for wanting to preempt our laws when apparently our own town officials seem to lack a fundamental understanding of them and want to ignore them for their own favorite green project agenda.  They are strutting around telling BP and the NYPSC how they must abide by our zoning laws.  Maybe our town officials should take their own advice first before they start telling everyone else how to act. 

This is how idiotic and absurd it becomes in this Art X appeasement scheme to look "reasonable" instead of taking the simple obvious stand to defend our land and our rights.  One hand doesn't know what the hell the other is doing.

Tear apart wind energy with all these studies and experts, and lawyers and science and research, and then in this absurd move just start promoting another pointless unreliable, ineffective minuscule power producer,  tax dependent renewable scam like industrial solar.  Gee, does some solar company have a hand in our town officials pockets????? 

Did I miss all the numerous public hearings on solar development?  Did I miss all the town/BP sponsored fire hall presentations on solar?  Did I miss the committee to study it and it's land and economic impacts? Did I miss the expert's presentations, and the land appraiser experts?  Did I miss the experts on field nesting bird, animal and plant impacts?   Or did the town officials in their blatant arrogance and Art X delusions just decide for us without any detailed examination that solar was the "bee's knees" for Cape Vincent!!! 

The last town govt ignored our zoning and com plan for their renewable agenda.  Is this one doing the same? And isn't that why we removed the last town govt?  The last town govt wouldn't give us a wind zoning law.  or update our comp plan.   This one does but it appears they will just ignore it, or at least the most important intent of it!

And lastly in the context of Art X, the town letter would be a good one and well done pointing out all the issues and problems with BP, the PSS  and industrial wind on and on and on.  

Ahhhhhh.... but it seems to me they are badly missing the point.  If industrial wind carries this much impact baggage why the hell are we screwing around with it and a scheme that might allow it or even a compromise, and suggesting we replace it with another renewable tax scam, not to mention with no science or research to back their position on solar.  And people wonder why I question their judgement.

So how exactly was this solar decision made?   Oh,  BTW we had a couple glasses of wine over dinner and  we just thought in our "green" liberal delusions that solar would be nice and we can somehow cram it into a zoning law that has no provsions or vision for it!! Hey...maybe no one will notice.  Maybe we can throw in some butterfies and unicorns too!!!

 In their letter they have made a perfect case to BAN wind from our region and community.  Not to mention to oppose the entire Art X scheme since it removed our rights as a community.

The really sad part is that our town officials have sucked right into solar as the gereen answer Just like so many people and environmental groups have sucked right into wind with their ignorance as the climate energy answer.   The same thing so many of us have been trying so hard for so long to educate so many about the failings of these industrial scale renewable tax scams.

And BTW when did our town officials  ...  for ANY REASON ... become so anxious and irrational and desperate to want to get in bed with BP, one of the worst companies on the planet???