Apparently Clayton Is A Better "Gate Keeper" For The Protection Of the 1000 Islands Than Cape Vincent

From time to time Mr. Wiley on his Cape Vincent blog JLL tells us regarding industrial wind development that we must be good "Gate Keepers" to protect  the 1000 Islands.   I couldn't agree more!  Looks like Clayton is a better "Gate Keeper"  than CV on that account...well sort of!

As part of the Art. X process  regarding the siting of the BP Cape Vincent Wind plant, CV has asked Clayton as a stakeholder to support CV’s  zoning law and wind regulations.  The TI Sun has reported that the Clayton Town Board is willing to support CV’s right to home rule, but won’t support CV’s zoning because it allows industrial wind turbines too close to the scenic 1000 Islands and the St. Lawrence River.

Now this is a hoot!  Clayton doesn’t think CV’s wind zoning is tough enough on the scenic protections.  Can you imagine that???? In fact I have been doing a series of posts on this zoning law issue and it’s failures in scenic protections in an effort to appease Art. X. So this fits right in.

Note to CV zoning experts:  Clayton is right! Well sort of!

In light of this it is extremely  ironic that the Cape Vincent Town board was willing to have someone arrested at a public hearing on their law because the citizen wanted a little extra time to speak on that very point of insufficient scenic protections from industrial wind development in the CV law, rather than a ridiculous three stinking minutes!  Clayton took a couple weeks and came to a somewhat similar conclusion.  Geee I wonder if the CV Town Board will march down and demand that the Clayton Town Supervisor Justin Taylor be arrested!!!

Funny…it seems to me there have been some people (me for one)  saying  for a very very long time what the Clayton Town Board is now finally waking up to, that CV’s traditional zoning  law approach does not sufficiently address the scenic protection issue.  But we are called radicals, extremists, fringe voices, nut cases,  and lunatics having hissy fits when we talk about serious protection efforts that might actually make a difference to protect our communities and region from the visual blight of industrial wind development.

Of course our solution is not to be swept up in this ridiculous Art. X setback game like CV AND Clayton, but to create an effective solution and demand and declare the rights to enforce it, and prohibit what is painfully obvious can’t be mitigated by zoning, and really protect the precious  scenic resources of our area.

But  step back Clayton and don’t pat yourself on the back too hard! Just like CV you are playing this same inane setback game deluded into thinking you can actually control the visual impact of gigantic 500 ft. towers with spinning blades and flashing lights with traditional zoning.

All the Clayton zoning does is force the terrible impacts further back and on someone else who apparently they think like CV  doesn’t deserve the same protections. This is the extreme fallacy of wind zoning.  You can rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic all you want, but the ship is still going to sink and somebody WILL have to pay the price for this type of flawed push back zoning thinking.

The Clayton Town Board’s awakening that CV’s law is not sufficient scenic protection is just one more step in the long tedious and painful evolutionary thinking process I have watched since 2006.  It will at some point drive people to the realization that traditional zoning is a mistake and cannot effectively protect us from an impact too large to control.  Removal is the only viable sane solution if you really want to talk about the protection of our treasured scenic 1000 Islands region.

If we all have a responsibility to  be “Gate Keepers” for the protection of the 1000 Island region, like Wiley says on his JLL blog, then before it is too late we better wake up and ALL OF US  better lock the f*!%ing gate!!!!