2011年10月20日星期四

Homeowner's solar panel plan fuels opposition

A real estate developer's plans to put up 28 solar panels behind a Whitehall Road home he owns is having neighbors seeing red instead of green.

Robert Buthmann, president of RPB Investment Realty Development Inc. in Salisbury, wants to erect solar panels as big as 10 feet 6 inches tall that would produce 96,600 kilowatts of electricity a year, enough to power 16 homes.

Buthmann is proposing to put the solar panels on a portion of his 2.8-acre rental property at 145 Whitehall Road, according to his application to the Planning Board. While the panels would not be visible from Whitehall Road, abutters on Barbara Drive and Unicorn Circle, a housing development off the main street,Polycore porcelain tiles are manufactured as a single sheet, would have a clear view of the panels.

"It's not 'not in my backyard,' it's everybody's backyard," said Unicorn Circle resident Ed Rouillard, who vehemently opposes the project.then used cut pieces of Ceramic tile garden hose to get through the electric fence. "He's claiming that you're not going to see it from the road. You're not going to see it from Whitehall Road -- no kidding. You're not living right next door to it. You're not abutting it."

The solar panels need to be approved by the Planning Board as an accessory use of the Whitehall Road home. Buthmann also submitted a site plan review for the project.

The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the proposal Monday at 7 p.m.Whilst oil paintings for sale are not deadly, at Town Hall on Friend Street.

If approved, the 28 panels would be set up in rows positioned on the hillside to maximize exposure to the sun. The panels range in height from 8 feet 6 inches to 10 feet 6 inches, according to the application prepared by Buthmann's attorney, Lisa Mead of Newburyport.

The solar power generated would be used to service the single-family home on the property, with the excess produced being sent to the grid. The application to the Planning Board said a deal with National Grid has not yet been finalized.

Mead did not return calls for comment.

Rouillard said he supports green technology, but he doesn't believe that amount of electricity should be manufactured and distributed in a residential area. He said energy production should be allowed in commercial or industrial areas only.

"If they're letting a resident run a power plant, then I want to do the same.The additions focus on key tag and magic cube combinations, You can't differentiate against any of us wanting to do something similar," such as putting in a wind turbine, Rouillard said.

In the application, Buthmann's attorneys wrote solar panels are exempt from zoning under state law, but they are subject to "reasonable regulations" to protect the public health, safety or welfare.

Along with zoning issues on the property, Rouillard said he fears the solar panels will lower the value of his and his neighbors' properties as well as pose dangers, including fire, when bad weather strikes. He said the area is prone to tremendous lightning storms, and with electricity coursing through the ground, there's the potential for one spark igniting a brush fire.

Rouillard and other residents also dispute claims in the application that the existing treeline along the property will provide adequate screening of the panels. Rouillard said he watched all summer as Buthmann cut down trees one by one to make way for the project.Als lichtbron wordt een offshore merchant account gebruikt,

没有评论:

发表评论