Fairhaven Bylaw Review to Limit Turbine Size

Fairhaven’s new bylaw proposal makes a start in the direction of reducing the threat of future wind turbines (Bylaw rewrite could halve turbine height, wattage in Fairhaven). It would limit total height to 265 feet and limit output to 600 kilowatts. But it falls short in having safe setbacks, an indicator that available data was not incorporated into the draft.

Windwise member Louise Barteau said she is encouraged by the town taking a second look at its existing bylaws but questioned the process involved.

“OK, so we cut the height and the wattage, but has anyone researched whether that is enough to stop the health problems in our town?” she said. “We can’t just be choosing arbitrary numbers. We need to ask ourselves are we making an assumption about turbines or are we actually making decisions about facts and data.”