Savoy Moves to End Wind Plant Era

In a large showing for a winter night, a quarter of Savoy’s registered voters filled the fire station to pass a change in the town’s bylaws to restrict wind turbine development. According to Larry Parnass, reporting in the Berkshire Eagle, “Savoy residents rescind wind power bylaw” (12/22/17),

By a vote of 101-22, residents who crowded into the town fire station deleted Section 9 of Savoy’s zoning bylaw, which allows commercial wind power generation, and added language specifically prohibiting it.

The small town of 800 has recently been at odds with the 5-turbine project currently permitted to go ahead. It was the Minuteman Wind proposal to raise the height of the turbines that prompted a vote to retain the height limit of the then-existing bylaw.

Mary Serreze, reporting in MassLive for the Springfield Republican, noted the

Opponents cited noise, wildlife, and scenic impacts, and organized their neighbors.  Residents in nearby Hawley, a Franklin County town, also opposed the project.

Trina Sternstein, a neighbor who has watched the process from Hawley, said

Ten years ago the town voted “yes” to the bylaw. But in the intervening years a great deal more information about the negative aspects of wind turbines has been revealed and many Savoy residents have changed their minds. This is a beautiful example of what information can accomplish.