Weighing Wind - what constitutes weight?

It's an obvious understatement to say the existing friction surrounding Wind 1’s permitting involves competing interests.

It's also an understatement to say that the interest of Falmouth’s Board of Selectmen is the Community’s fiscal management and health. Yet, should this fiscal interest be considered during board deliberations?

“A conflict of interest is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgement or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest.”

Put in ZBA's permit deliberation context, the interest brought forward by Selectmen of harmful fiscal consequence can’t be treated as wrong.

However, it must be treated as objectionable should it rise to a level effecting the Windmill Bylaw’s provision (primary interest) of protecting neighborhoods.

A conflict of interest therefore, would exists if the fiscal harm argument made by the Selectmen creates a risk that a decision by the ZBA may be unduly influenced.

As the Falmouth Community is well aware, many secondary interests have crowded the conversation during ZBA hearings. A recent public comment from a local town attorney and former Falmouth Planning Board member was most notable.

A warning was given in that the ZBA must not embarrass the Town by denying a permit. The local citizen explained that a denial action would somehow make Falmouth the poster child for the fossil fuel industry’s world-wide anti-wind propaganda. O la vache !!!

Please - Let clearer heads prevail. Let the Windmill Bylaw prevail.

We have a unique form of town government where competing public interests are sorted by Town Meeting. Bylaws are the result and it's the ZBA's mission to interpret and apply to zoning.

Therefore, the ZBA’s primary interest is not weighing competing public interests - that's already been done. Rather, the Board should consider only the demonstrably good ingredients and thoughtful intention provided by, in this case, 1981’s Town Meeting.

The plainly clear intention is “that there shall be no adverse impacts on the neighborhood”.
Undue influence from public interests decidedly secondary to the primary interest is therefore, conflicts that warrant no consideration.

9:00 AM Saturday March 5th at Town Hall the Zoning Board begins its weighing of the wind.