Dan's Papers - July 27, 2007 - A Windmill? Never!

It is absolutely stunning to me that in today's day and age, with everything we know about the environment, that residents are willing to oppose wind turbines and solar panels as forcefully as they would oppose a nuclear power plant when a well minded builder tries to do the right thing. Nothing was a clearer display of backward thinking when a group of Ninevah Beach residents banded together to oppose the construction of a wind turbine on a private residence in Sag Harbor in recent weeks.

First of all, I would like to describe to you the insignificance of the size of this turbine to make it clear how ridiculous it is to be against such a structure. The wind turbine, which is being proposed by Paul Fried who also owns the house, was designed by a company called Windside Production Ltd. of Finland. This company has a thriving business producing state of the art wind turbines that have an appealing look to them. The turbine is proposed to be four feet tall, with a diameter set in the ground to be twelve inches. You read that correctly, a structure that smaller then most lawn statues is a cause for fierce architectural review, safety and the sound impact it is going to have on the community with an organized group of people fighting it.

Another meeting, one of now three, was held last Monday night in Sag Harbor before the Architectural Review Board to discuss whether or not a FOUR FOOT wind turbine sleekly designed to help offset the cost of electricity to a home, contribute to the power grid and decrease the amount of greenhouse gas causing CO2 that the house produces, was allowed to placed on the home.

What the hell is wrong with this picture? We should be praising builders and buyers that want to install things like this. Am I missing something? Personally I am not the only one out here that feels this way about this issue. There is a company that does praise such structures and that is the Long Island Power Authority, who offers tremendous rebates on the construction of machines of this type, as well as the State and Federal Governments, who offer tax incentives as well as cash bonuses for those that are willing to do what is right for the environment. Ironically, what is usually one of the most forward thinking villages in the Hamptons, is acting as if this builder is trying to build a Taco Bell in town.

The four foot wind turbine proposed is not only nearly completely out of site, but doesn't even look like a wind turbine at all. The advanced turbine stands vertically into the air and is spiral shaped similar to a piece of sculpture art, and it can also be painted any color that the board desires. It produces 65 decibels of noise, which to put into perspective, is about ten decibels higher then the sound of trees rustling in the wind.

"I really don't get it," said Paul Fried of Windside Productions in an interview. "These turbines look great and in this day and age I'm just completely surprised that there are so many people that are resisting them. It doesn't make any sense to me at all, especially with so much awareness about global warming and the high cost of electricity not just on our pockets, but on the environment as well."

The meeting on Monday "tabled" the issue, which means that a final decision is going to be made at the next hearing August 9.

Whether or not a four-foot wind turbine will be allowed in the Hamptons remains to be seen.