The SASS Debate -The "Reasonable Zoning" Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost!

The Thousand Islands Regional Assessment Project (TIRAP) associated with SASS has a critical quote repeated numerous times regarding massive industrial structures.  See below.

“Consequently, massive industrial and infrastructure projects should not be built within the SASS district or within its surrounding viewshed. There are presently no techniques to mitigate the visual impacts of these structures because they are so tall, massive and frequently in motion." 

So the TIRAP which many anti wind people support clearly indicates that structures such as industrial wind turbines cannot be mitigated.  That is pretty cut and dried, with no wiggle room.

They have stated what no town board along the river involved in SASS was willing to actually commit to.    Professional TIRAP  land planning consultants  believe there are currently no methods to mitigate these structures, yet towns wrote wind regulations, along with their lawyers,  that do the opposite and try to mitigate.  

Now keep in mind the consultants on this report are highly reputable and very experienced in this type of scenic evaluation and land planning.

The Cape Vincent zoning law, like others along the river has appeased the State’s Art. 10 process by passing zoning that appears “reasonable” that in one form or another accommodates industrial wind energy in the very places the TIRAP says it shouldn’t be. 

 In other words those people who believe in SASS, and like other towns along the river wrote wind zoning laws to accommodate industrial wind, now are in a bit of an ideological pickle!

Their actual actions on the record don’t back up their support for SASS! 

They were not willing to take the obvious steps against wind development that would have really protected the region on a legal fundamental level, with power granted to them by NYS law but now expect SASS will help them! 

 

In many ways a community's zoning has greater implications for scenic protection than SASS.

Reading the TIRAP report from very reputable consultants, all indications are now that industrial wind development should be prohibited.  Yet not one town along the river has done that.  Talk by some of us about prohibiting was called radical and lunatic, and was like poison. 

So if you support the TIRAP conclusion on industrial wind development type structures, and are not disingenuous, you can’t support laws that allow industrial wind development, and support SASS at the same time? 

Cape Vincent  and other rivers town got snookered into appeasing Art. 10 on wind energy so they looked “reasonable”, when the fact is  the very reputable professional consultants of the TIRAP report are now clearly indicating the supposed “unreasonable” approach of   prohibiting is the appropriate one. 

Some people supporting SASS are attempting to talk out of both sides of their mouths and hope you don’t notice, but there is a public record.  

So which way is it?  Do you support the TIRAP conclusion, and are you willing to bring your zoning in line with the recommendations that you cannot mitigate these structures, and that would include traditional setback zoning. 

 

You want support from SASS but in reality are you willing to support SASS with additional concrete action?

Myself and a few others, despite many efforts to marginalize us, said that prohibition was the appropriate zoning approach to industrial wind energy and the approach to try to be” reasonable”

would come back to bight you. 

So here we are!   

The anti wind faction who refused to prohibit wind and wrote “reasonable” wind regulations to appease Art. 10 and accommodate wind are  now trying to get the State to believe they want the SASS designation, in part to discourage wind, the supporting report of which, essential says you should ban industrial wind type structures. 

Hhhmmm…I wonder how the State views this mixed message?  I wonder which side of the message  a State administration that is rabid about renewables and wind development will hear? 

If you really don’t want industrial wind, and  then you write wind laws to accommodate it you send a terrible message that you are willing to “be reasonable” and may accommodate it, which flies directly in the face of the TIRAP and SASS designation for scenic recognition and protection.  I said many times if you are anti wind then  you better stand behind what you truly believe and stop walking the fence,  That is dangerous territory! 

In the SASS debate SASS supporters are quietly trying to avoid a very critical component.    

If they are serious then we can’t have a genuine discussion until we reconcile SASS support and scenic protection with our zoning laws that are contradicting its conclusions.   

Otherwise it seems this whole SASS designation is pointless.