Community Corner

Letter: In Support of Wind Energy at Stop & Shop

The conversation continues about wind turbines at Wayland's upcoming Stop & Shop location.

This letter was submitted by George Bachrach, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts. 

Wayland is a Green Community. It has a adopted the building stretch code, and done many good things. But it now has a chance to support a small wind project in town, and the betting money is it will vote it down.

Stop & Shop is part of the larger, mixed-use, already permitted, Wayland Town Center project. At considerable added expense, Stop & Shop proposes a LEED certified store including a white roof, LED lighting, charging stations for cars in the parking lot, one of the largest solar panel arrays in the Commonwealth, state of the art energy efficiency for HVAC and refrigeration, and six small wind vanes … all paid for by Stop & Shop. Amazingly, the town is poised to reject the small, (11-foot tall) wind vanes mounted on top of light poles in the parking lot, out of sight of any residential abutter. 

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The matter will come before the Wayland Planning Board this Tuesday for a final vote. The narrow legal question is whether wind energy is an allowed “accessory use.”  Accessory uses must be 1) on site; 2) related to the primary use; and 3) customary. Clearly the wind vanes, which are on site and directly service the store, meet the first two criteria. As to whether wind vanes are customary depends on which century you live in.

Fossil fuels were customary in the last century. In the 21st century, renewables are customary. For example, Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, has wind vanes in its Worcester parking lot. Atlantic Superstores, the largest grocery chain in Canada uses them. Retailers as diverse as Burger King, Chevron, car dealerships and garden stores use them. It is clearly not unique.  Wind energy is the new “customary.”

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Nevertheless, Wayland seems poised to say no. As happened with Cape Wind, everyone professes their support for wind energy … just not here … or perhaps later … or perhaps with different technology … or perhaps with further review. 

Ultimately good projects die. There is no perfect project or process. This is the moment for Wayland to step up. What is there to lose? If it works, we have more clean energy and a wonderful and visible example of wind power. If it fails, it’s Stop & Shop’s investment of time and money.

We need advocates to stop nit-picking and step up. We particularly need the leadership of the Wayland Energy Advisory Committee to step up. This is Wayland’s chance. If this project fails, opponents of renewable energy will claim this as a victory and it will make siting the next project even harder. If this project is approved, it will make the next siting easier. This is about the future versus the past.


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