The Cape Vincent Town Officials Have Even More Egg Dripping From Their Faces

Just about a year ago the Town of Cape Vincent zoning and other officials became embroiled in an embarrassing zoning disaster over two illegally approved solar projects. This zoning mess  was made worse by the fact that one of those solar projects belonged to the town supervisor Mr. Hirschey and was up and running for a few months after being incorrectly approved.  A fact neither  he nor his zoning geniuses ever figured out until I uncovered this zoning mess.

To make matters worse, the approval of the illegal solar projects exposed the fact that neither  the town supervisor nor his zoning officials were apparently capable of reading and applying the brand new CV zoning law correctly.  Keeping in mind this was new zoning law they themselves had run for election on, and promised CV citizens would be a model law to also solve our industrial wind energy development problems.

When this embarrassing zoning mess was expose, and was even reported in the Watertown Daily Times, many town officials had meetings and tried desperately to do “creative” zoning distortions and damage control in an effort to make this mess go away, hoping no one would really see the obvious that they couldn’t even read the law they had just written.  Not to mention the tax dollars spent consulting with an expensive attorney on this zoning law that in the end they didn’t even understand.

The only thing the town officials could come up with was for the town zoning board of appeals, in a stunning lapse of zoning logic, approve an outdated, faulty incomplete expired old permit under the old zoning law, and do that under very questionable legal circumstances that make the eyes of lawyers I have discussed this with roll their eyes in disbelief.

Apparently that was the only recourse CV town officials could come up with to try to make themselves look credible. 

But the guy they tried to appease with this zoning fiasco just recently did them in with more embarrassment!

The dubious rational was that the solar applicant had already purchased much of the expensive equipment after applying for the old original permit, so this made him “significantly "vested” in the project which they thought was moving forward so this justified renewing the old permit.

However, this also badly violated the premise supported by NYS laws that ZBA decisions should be consistent and reflect upon previous decisions.  A previous decision by the CV ZBA ruled against the placement of a private wind turbine, belonging to the same resident as the new solar project, even AFTER it was up and standing and apparently $80K had been invested. And the NY court upheld that decision. 

However this time with the town supervisor also having an illegally approved solar project, the stakes and the game were different… and more embarrassing!!!

But now I see on the JLL blog the following report from a recent town board meeting.

"An existing permit for a Roger Alexander solar project had expired and an extension was denied. Further action on that project will go to the ZBA."

Really????  So now the town has really shot itself in the foot with their previous ridiculous solar zoning decision for Alexander!

  A full one year after the town approved a bogus renewed permit for Mr. Alexander’s solar project on the premise he was vested in the project with a lot of money, and the town officials claimed they saw some of the equipment on site apparently in preparation and ready for installation…

…virtually  NOTHING of any consequence has apparently appeared or  been done on the project and he is asking for ANOTHER renewal which FINALLY the town in their infinite wisdom has denied.

Now this would be after the town jumped through all kinds of hoops and did leaping and questionable legal somersaults to try to cover their own zoning mess, and somehow desperately get Alexander’s solar zoning to look legal. 

They now have considerably more egg dripping off their faces, and the decision to approve a bogus old permit renewal on the shaky legal grounds  of Mr. Alexander being “vested” in the project is now even a more embarrassing zoning disaster.

Apparently Mr. Alexander really took them to the cleaners on this solar zoning fiasco by doing virtually nothing on his project after a full year and all the legal (or illegal)  zoning hoopla!!!

 I guess he wasn’t that “vested” in the project after all!!!  Too bad the CV zoning geniuses couldn’t figure that out last year!

This graphically demonstrates exactly what I was trying to say last year about  just how terrible their zoning decision was, and what a mess it still is.

But they probably hoped you wouldn’t notice!!!