December
4, 2013
Issues
Related to Recent Communication by the Town & BP in the
Article
10 Case of the Cape Vincent Wind Farm Proposal:
11/12/13
Letter from Town/Curtin:
"That
said, the intentions of BP, as we understand them, fly in the
face
of not only the Comprehensive Plan of the Town of Cape Vincent
but
also its duly adopted land use regulations. It does not even come
close
to the vision that the Town has maintained for a considerable
period
of time and it should be noted that the substance of the local
regulations
in question predate any applications that were made by BP
or
any other wind initiative."
"In
the event that there is a sale and a new applicant is substituted,
we
will request and require that all applications be commenced at the
very
point of beginning in that there can be no reliance upon the
actions
undertaken by BP or its associates. "
11/07/2013
Letter from Town:
"Please
understand that our town has been living under a cloud of
uncertainty
for eight years, the result of BP's steadfast commitment
to
force their incompatible and illogical wind development plan down
our
throats. We have fought BP every step of the way for the past
eight
years and we want BP and any subsequent buyer of the Cape
project
to realize that we will continue our fight with any proposal
that
does not consider and comply with our Comprehensive Plan and our
zoning
law. We are determined and our resolve is uncompromising."
"It
is important for any new buyer of the Cape Vincent wind project to
also
understand that our difficulty with a wind proposal that is
incompatible
with our Comprehensive Plan and zoning law will extend
outside
the bounds of the Article 10 process. The Town of Cape Vincent
has
the authority to reject any request for tax abatement if a
development
project does not meet and satisfy our vision, plan and
zoning
laws.
10/25/13
Letter from BP:
"That
said, the intentions of BP, as we understand them, fly in the
face
of not only the Comprehensive Plan of the Town of Cape Vincent
but
also its duly adopted land use regulations. It does not even come
close
to the vision that the Town has maintained for a considerable
period
of time and it should be noted that the substance of the local
regulations
in question predate any applications that were made by BP
or
any other wind initiative."
10/18/13
Letter from Town:
"We
wish to bring to your attention what we must conclude to have been
an
oversight by those who drafted the Article 10 Law and Regulations
regarding
the Stipulation Phase of the process."
"Because
there is no specific time period specified for the
Stipulation
Phase it is open-ended and allows an applicant as much
time
as they deem necessary to move their application forward."
"In
addition, there does not seem to be any interest or effort by BP
in
getting the process moving and the issues resolved, while at the
same
time disregarding a specific request by Judge Agresta at the May
21
meeting to provide a project plan that considers Cape Vincent's
local
law."
"On
October 3, 2013 BP officials traveled to Cape Vincent and met with
company
leaseholders. Unconfirmed reports from some who attended the
meeting
indicated BP discussed abandoning the Cape Vincent project,
among
other things."
"Anticipating
the need to appropriate more money for the Article 10
process,
we then come into direct conflict with tax cap requirements
by
the State. All of this is extremely burdensome to small
municipalities,
such as ours, that have limited resources."
"Madame
Secretary, we need some help and relief in the form of clarity
and
transparency. The Town would ask for the same consideration and
same
message from BP that it has provided to its leaseholders. We
would
also request that the Siting Board provide the Town with some
indication
of how long this phase of the process will continue."
"BP
has had our Town twisting in the winds of uncertainty since 2006.
When
Article 10 was enacted there was local apprehension about balance
and
fairness in the Article 10 process. But it was hoped by many that
the
new process would require prompt responses by all parties, and
that
timeliness would be adhered to by the applicant. However, we seem
to
be stuck again now, awaiting word from BP about its claimed
cessation
of wind project development. When? Knowing when matters to
us.
Certainly, you can appreciate that."
5/1/13
Letter from Town/Curtin:
"Our
second concern relates to a reference BP used to waive portions
of
the Town's zoning law as described in their Preliminary Scoping
Statement
(PSS) filed on April 19, " ... the Public Service Law
general
preemption of local laws should relieve CVWF of the obligation
to
comply with this section." DPS in its review of BP's PSS (p.46)
also
found the general preemption statement by BP to be baffling ,"The
revised
PSS should clearly identify what CVWP means when asserting
that,
"the Public Service Law general preemption of local laws"
will
relieve
the applicant of its obligations to comply with a local
standard"
Because the waiver of local laws is the heart of this case,
the
Town requests the same clarification and identification as DPS,
but
the Town would prefer see a clarification sooner rather than
later."
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