DIXFIELD — The Board of Selectmen voted 3-2 on July 11 to ask residents in November if they want to rescind the 2012 wind ordinance and adopt the state’s governance of wind turbines, Town Manager Carlo Puiia said Monday.
Townspeople in June voted 178-220 against approving the most recent version of the ordinance, which included the state standard for sound limits of 42 decibels at night and 55 decibels during the day.
The ordinance was written after Patriot Renewables LLC of Quincy, Mass., approached town officials in October 2010 about constructing wind turbines on Colonel Holman Mountain ridge. It passed in November 2012, but its zoning restrictions were unenforceable.
In November 2014, an amended version was rejected. In June 2015, the Planning Board’s original draft was also rejected.
Puiia said that another suggestion was to have residents vote on the ordinance written by attorney Kristen Collins that was amended to include Department of Environmental Protection sound standards.
However, the board decided to include an article on the November warrant asking voters if they want to replace the 2012 ordinance with the state’s standards for governing wind development.
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