Three Hearings–2 in Court, 1 in Town

Monday January 14 is set to be a 3-hearing day with a morning court hearing on Cape Cod, an afternoon court hearing in Brockton, and an evening Board of Health hearing in Kingston. The two later hearings scrutinize health effects of operating turbines, while the morning session is about a company who wishes to put one up.

Janet Wu reported for WCVB-TV Channel 5 “Wind turbine causing headaches, nausea, Scituate family says.” The hearing at 2:00 pm in Plymouth Superior Court in Brockton will consider Mark and Lauren McKeever’s request for a restraining order against the town of Scituate, whose turbine brings strobing light into their home and disrupts sleep.

“We can’t sleep, my children wake up in the middle of the night because of the noise and humming, and then they go to school where they can’t concentrate because they are sleep deprived,” said Mark McKeever.

Jessica Bartlett’s notice in the Boston Globe Metro “Court to hear request to shut down Scituate turbine” notes the McKeevers filed a motion Friday to ask for immediate shutdown of the  turbine owned by Solaya Energy and Scituate Wind.

Both pieces appeared on 1/12/13.

Kingston’s hearing is before the Board of Health at 6:00 pm at the Kingston Town House in room 200. The public hearing relates to wind turbine complaints and possible enforcement action. Writing in Wicked Local Kingston, Kathryn Gallerani reported the on-again, off-again progress of residents’ efforts to be heard: UPDATE: Kingston Board of Health turbine hearing is back on (1/4/12).

The morning’s court hearing is an effort by the Aquaculture Research Corporation to overturn a ruling of the Regional Old King’s Highway historic commission in order to reinstate an approval by the Dennis OKH commission. The back-and-forth progress of ARC’s proposal now has the town siding with the corporation in bringing the suit. While the hearing begins at 9:00 am in Orleans on Monday Jan. 14th it is expected to continue all week.

The authority for the commission is the Old King’s Highway Regional Historic District Act, Chapter 470 of the Acts of 1973. The Act provides protection for visual character and setting so that all exterior changes to buildings, signs, and other construction are reviewed for congruity, compatibility, and appropriateness with the historic character of the District.