Wind Farm Blues In Groton - Granite Grok

Wind Farm Blues In Groton

“Socialist elitism will not conquer the Granite State by way of the federal government, but with its steady migration of mass-holes, carpet bagging their NIMBY politics, CAVE politicos and BANANA buddies, manipulative zoning, community planning, variances, fees and their homegrown branded definition of ‘Quality of life’…” —LFGC Club President Rick Olson

nimbyI had not remembered saying that until I saw it in a publication whose topic is the building of shooting ranges. I stand by that statement and I think many would agree that we see this phenomenon in play more and more frequently as the Granite State becomes inundated with transplants.

Many come (and will come) to get their slice of the Normal Rockwell life then work at a feverish pitch to exclude others…or worse yet, stamp out those who do not fit that picturesque definition. They have amassed fortunes in places like Boston so they give little consideration to the local economy or culture they do not see.

Today’s Union leader features a man who is from Boston, worked in Boston as a Police Officer and moved to New Hampshire for, “peace and quiet.” In 2010,  Iberdrola Renewables of Spain built a wind farm operations plant adjacent to his property. Groton Wind LLC, a 24-turbine, 48-megawatt wind-energy company, was built with the state’s approval.

This is one of those stories that lacks a great deal of context. First, we don’t know how close this operation is to Mario Rampino’s property. Second, we do not know just how much noise it makes. Its not like he has a gravel operation next door with a rock crusher running eight hours a day.

Finally, we have absolutely no context to tell us about how much traffic it generates. Are we talking about a dozen cars, trucks or heavy equipment? What is the nature of the traffic?

Mr. Rampino claims the project has ruined the fishing in Clark Brook. What does that mean? Has the brook been altered? Is it being polluted? Does it mean there are no more fish? Or does it mean he cannot stand to fish beside or along this property? In other words, Mr. Rampino is claming impacts to the value of his property and his quality of life but provides us with no context. How do we the readers, quantify that?

Just how much property does Mr. Rampino own? Are we talking about a half-acre lot? He claims he cannot sell his Real Estate, yet he has hired an attorney.

Has Groton Wind, LLC. genuinely and substantially altered the area, such that a person of reasonable sensibilities would arrive at that conclusion? or is this just yet another case where this is a guy, under the color of recovery from PTSD (as the UL claims) seeks silence and solitude and can get neither for no other reason than his expectation is untenable?

In essence, The Union Leader’s Dan Seufert has written a story that tends to view the situation from Mr. Rampino’s viewpoint without helping us to fully understand if that is reasonable or not.

Groton Wind, LLC underwent a site plan review with applicable state agencies, town zoning and a public hearing. It is not known if Mr. Rampino raised concerns during this period, nor is it known whether or not any other neighbors did so, outside and exclusive of the usual agenda-driven opposition.

Knowing how these projects unfold, my best guess is that Mario Rampino is a run-of-the-mill NIMBY complainer seeking to get out from under his real estate at the expense of Iberdrola and Groton Wind, LLC because he doesn’t want anyone or anything in the form of a neighbor. Not untypical of a Mass Transplant. If a person purchases enough land around himself, he has the effective buffer he seeks.

Inversely, Fish and Game and Sportsman’s clubs that employ the use of ranges at their properties have learned from the NIMBY’s. Indeed, there was a time when, despite being notified of a new nearby development underway, Clubs rarely ever opposed those developments and quietly went about their business under the pretext that people were using their own land for their own purposes and bad manners would be to stick our noses in it. The folly of that notion came in the form of neighbors moving into those homes complaining about noise and then hiring lawyers.

Today, many clubs now appear at such public hearings to oppose housing development construction encroachments to club properties. But unlike the NIMBY’s, who simply do not want stuff built (BANANA-Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone) and the CAVE Colalition (CAVE-Citizens Against Virtually Everything)  the clubs seek concessions not to stop the projects. Taking exception establishes early for the public record that residential homes constructed close to a club with shooting ranges will be, indeed, be prospectively impacted by the club’s presence and operations. Residents subsequently purchasing those homes will complain and inevitably do. Clubs merely seek  small low-cost concessions such as disclosures in the warranty deeds. Other times club attorneys hash out deals to maintain access to lands and rights-of-way.

The Mario Rampinos of New Hampshire who have come from elsewhere generally have some fragile notions of what constitutes “peace and quiet.” Any measure more than a micron outside that personally imposed metric requires the offending party to “pony up” and make them whole…based on what they perceive as whole. This is NIMBY….This is BANANA…this is CAVE. It is when some local whiner with paper-thin sensibilities attempts to get built into the system the ability to dictate to others how or for what one’s land is used.

People move to New Hampshire seeking some diverse idyllic notion for a particular quality of life. The major difference between Massachusetts and New Hampshire however,  is there is no, “ass” in New Hampshire. They would do well to remember that.

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