A friend wrote:
What’s the issue here? Are Lyme people aware that there is an issue (if there is)?
Thanks for writing, and helping me clarify my point: The Energy Committee recently wrote a chapter for the Master Plan. Recommendation #2 is that the Planning Board should make rules more permissive for renewable energy sources.
The very next meeting, the Planning Board set about to think about zoning rules for solar.
- None of us really knew what a solar installation would look like, especially one that supplies 100%+ of a home’s requirements. That led me to do the research I published on my blog.
- I had a concern that the new rules might allow a neighbor’s opinions to limit, or possibly even trump, a resident’s right to install renewable energy on their own land. It would feel incongruous to “make more rules” in the guise of “being more permissive.”
- I certainly don’t have a clear idea of what the town residents would accept, pro or con regarding solar installations.
I am encouraging everyone to send their thoughts to the board so that we can create rules that actually match the sense of the town. This will be discussed at the Planning Board meeting on Thursday, 9 September at 7:00pm in the Town Offices. If you cannot attend, you can send your thoughts to zoning@lymenh.gov (Note: An earlier version of this posted the wrong date.)
Feel free to share this post on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or email. Any opinions expressed here are solely my own, and not those of any public body, such as the Lyme Planning Board, Budget Committee, or Trustees of the Trust Funds where I volunteer. I would be very interested to hear your thoughts – you can reach me at richb.lyme@gmail.com.