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March 26, 2009

Beekmantown zoners delay wind-permit decision

By LUCAS BLAISE

BEEKMANTOWN — With only one item on the agenda, the town Zoning Board of Appeals opened and closed their meeting in fewer than 10 minutes Wednesday night.

The Beekmantown Town Council decided last week to disallow Windhorse Power LLC's conditional-use permit.

About 30 people sat in an upstairs meeting room of the Beekmantown Town Office Wednesday — a smaller number than had attended the heated meetings of Windhorse Power's application process.

Windhorse opposers from the West Beekmantown Neighborhood Association as well as Town Supervisor Dennis Relation and Town Clerk Marie Jolicoeur were among the audience.

A Clinton County Sheriff's deputy was also on hand — a first for any recent meetings with the Zoning Board or Town Council.

Attorney C.J. Madonna, reading from a paper, suggested the Zoning Board take no action on the single agenda item — Deur's Patent LLC and Penn Energy Trust LLC's request for confirmation on the status of conditional-use permit No. 06-11 issued to Windhorse Power on Jan. 31, 2007.

Madonna gave the time line of the issue from the end of the appeals process in January 2007, noting that in 180 days following the appeals process, the developers would have to show progress or would have the conditional-use permit rendered void.

Almost immediately after the decision in 2007, the Zoning Board of Appeals was dragged into an Article 78 proceeding at the hands of the West Beekmantown Neighborhood Association.

"The decision of that court upheld the permit," Madonna said.

The Neighborhood Association appealed in the 30 days allowed, and again, the court upheld the permit.

"Within the 180 days, their (Windhorse Power's) attorney contacted me," he said, stressing to him that they had made the required progress to retain their permit.

This suggested that it was possible the permit was valid, rather than void.

Madonna then moved on to the recent resolution by the Town Council, which he had put into the minutes of the Zoning Board meeting.

He noted that along the process of creating the Wind Facilities Law, he had been asked to advise the council on their law.

"I found that it was not retroactive," he said. "It was consistent with the moratorium."

The moratorium, issued shortly after Windhorse Power came to the Zoning Board of Appeals in the beginning, had likewise not considered the development under the law.

It had instead held that the company, whose application was before the Zoning Board of Appeals already, could not be put under the legislation.

"The local law applied to future grants of permits," Madonna said.

He advised the Zoning Board to not "blindly follow" the direction of the Town Council.

Instead, he asked for time to talk with the town's attorney, Matthew Fuller.

The Zoning Board members agreed, and the meeting was voted adjourned.

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