Wind project bumps into boundary dispute

[ Originally published on: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 ]

CHARLEMONT -- A public hearing on a proposed 331-foot-tall wind turbine for the Berkshire East Ski Resort is scheduled for June 25, but town planners want to make sure the structure will be on town soil before they begin a special permit hearing process.

For nearly a century, the Charlemont-Hawley town boundary has been in dispute and since at least 1989, there have been calls to resolve the difference legally. But the issue has resurfaced again, since Berskhire East's property straddles the two towns.

Hawley town officials asked state Rep. Daniel Bosley to consider filing ''home-rule'' special legislation that would eliminate the discrepancy between the ''traditional'' and the ''legal'' town lines. The ''traditional'' boundary goes back at least 200 years and is indicated by stone cairns and old markers; the ''legal'' boundary, about 200 to 300 feet north of the traditional one, was established before 1914 by the state government, according to the late Hawley historian and selectman, Harrison Parker.

In 1989, Parker wrote that ''Steps should be taken now to petition the Legislature to pass a law correcting the definition of the boundary… so that it more closely coincides with the 'traditional' boundary. The 'legal' boundary has been a fiction,'' he wrote. ''In any case … it should be totally abandoned.''

According to Charlemont Assessors Clerk Bree Stegner, the issue to resolve the boundary was raised again in 2003-04, ''but nothing was done about it.''

In the letter to the Planning Board, Stegner wrote that, if the turbine lies within the disputed area, a permit could not be granted until state legislation resolving the issue has been adopted.

According to plans submitted to Charlemont's Planning Board by engineers for the wind turbine, the structure would be located about 85 feet from the Hawley border, but Planning Board members wanted to make sure there is no chance it would be situated in the disputed area.

''The turbine is nowhere near the disputed boundary,'' said James Schaefer of Berkshire East. He said the boundary dispute has nothing to do with the turbine and, if the proposed site were too close to the boundary, it would be moved. He said the disputed area is 200 to 300 feet, which represents ''a small fraction'' of the width of the ski resort property. He said the turbine will be situated on the side of the mountain, below the ridge line, and will not be highly visible.

''We would hope, in this day and age when a clean environment is important, that people would be supportive of things that clean up the environment,'' he said. ''We will do whatever we need to, to comply with the towns.''

Hawley has a Wind Facility Bylaw that spells out application requirements, including that a turbine be no taller than 200 feet.

Charlemont requires a special permit planning process.

Planning Board members discussed the issue Thursday night and agreed that, as long as the turbine is not sited in the disputed area, the special application permit process could begin.

''It's not up to us to establish the town line,'' said Planning Co-chair Gisela Walker. ''That's up to the assessors.''

Towns favor traditional border

In Hawley, Selectman and Assessor Richard G. Desmarais said both towns' assessors would like the state to adopt the traditional border, because that is what both towns' tax rolls are based on.

 

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