As wind power development looms over the Island, planning agencies and other organizations are beginning to come to terms with what that will mean visually. The Martha’s Vineyard Commission and Vineyard Power have each developed visual simulations to show what Vineyard horizons will look like dotted with wind farms.
And depending on your persuasion, the altered seascapes represent either a pristine panorama blighted by industrial machinery or a stirring reminder of the Island’s potential energy independence.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s is charged with determining the appropriate scale of any turbine project within three miles of Vineyard shores, including as the area south of Noman’s Land identified for development in the state’s Ocean Management Plan. Simulations developed by the MVC in concert with the Cape Cod Commission were created to help members get a sense of that scale. But even with simulations in hand determining visual impact is no easy endeavor.
“You do the visual simulations and then you go, is that okay, is that not okay? Who decides whether that’s okay or not?” said commission executive director Mark London at a presentation on Wednesday at the Howes House in West Tisbury.
As it begins to work on developing rules for offshore wind farms around the Vineyard, the commission is confronting among other things the unenviable task of quantifying the scenic value of various Vineyard vistas. And it has tackled what would seem a hopelessly subjective enterprise by scoring Island viewsheds on a variety of features, including the pristine nature of the views, the average length of visitors’ sojourns at the locations, the primary use of the locations and the number of visitors that those locations attract.
Unsurprisingly, one spot stands alone in the most critical category: the Gay Head lookout. As a result, wind development south of Cuttyhunk as proposed under the state’s Ocean Plan sits directly in the line of a viewshed that the commission has labeled “very exceptionally significant.”
“The Cuttyhunk siting is extremely problematic from a scenic resources point of view,” said Mr. London. He said the commission spent hours observing viewing behavior at the lookout to determine which parts of the stunning panorama would be most affected.
Potential development off Noman’s Land was found less troublesome by the commission, although the area was still ranked highly as a peripheral viewshed.
Three Island locations earned the designation as viewsheds of exceptional significance — Philbin Beach, Lobsterville Beach and Ocean Park — while others were ranked lower as either regionally or locally significant.
Chris Fried, a member of the Tisbury energy committee, proposed his own novel idea for considering visual impacts.
“I don’t think we’d be doing a thorough study unless we also generate photos of what would happen if we did not put wind turbines along the horizon,” he said. “We should have photographs that show eroded cliffs due to sea level rise, photographs showing increased smog along the horizon, photographs of oil-covered sea birds and other animals due to the likelihood of more oil spills. I think this is just one very small part of what we should be looking at in terms of what’s acceptable and what’s not.”
“Disagree,” replied Andrew Goldman, who heads a citizen group that is critical of the commonwealth’s wind policies as they relate to the Vineyard.
Mr. London reminded commission members that aesthetic consideration would not be the sole determinant for turbine siting.
“We may find out that the locations that are best for viewsheds are the worst for the birds,” he said.
Tyler Studds, a member of the Island energy cooperative Vineyard Power, which has prepared its own simulations of offshore development that were presented on Tuesday night to a summer taxpayer meeting in Aquinnah, said only visual appraisal of turbines presents an incomplete picture.
“I think that it’s really important to note that wind turbines are a lot more than just objects in the landscape. They will play a significant role in our energy future,” he said.
This article appears in August 13, 2010.
It’s too bad that the Vineyard has become such a national laughingstock over this opposition to windmills. Not a great reputation to have: Islanders are now considered self-centered rich pinheads who would rather see 1000 men die in coal mine cave-ins to provide their electricity than suffer a single windmill blemish on their precious view.
Thank you, Tyler Studds, for reminding us that there are still good, responsible adults living there.
BTW Gazette: on the website, each pair of photos appears to be identical. Is that an upload error?
What are those photos supposed to show? If they are to show what the horizon will look like with turbines present, these are not honest photos, as they appear to be taken with a wide-angle lens. A wide lens is not the way we see the world (diminishes objects in the distance) The eye sees more along the lines of the way things look through a 50mm (neither telephoto or wide) lens.
Where’s the hideous wind machines? I see little white specs if I squint. I think the McMansions are blocking my favorite old views of the ocean. They should be removed.
Carol
There are many reasons to oppose an industrial power plant along the shores of the Vineyard, the least of which is that we’re a bunch of ” self centered rich pinheads”. As you know almost everyone who lives here derives thier income from the tourist economy. Tourists flock here for the islands’ natural beauty and do not want to sit on the beach and look out at an industrial power plant. Islanders are also intelligent enough to understand that wind energy is not a viable alternative to other power sources. We understand the folly of destroying the natural enviroment in order to fatten the wallets of “Big Energy” with our tax dollars. Are we NIMBY? Of course we are! That’s why we have no malls or Burger Kings or Wal-Marts. And as far as being rich, well, per capita income in this county is one of the lowest in the state. Islanders aren’t exactly rich but we are intelligent and that’s why we oppose industrial wind turbines off our shores.
Were the second pair of photos, taken from the beach, supposed to be set in Chilmark or Aquinnah? It looks more like Lucy Vincent, which would be much further away from the windmills than Philbin Beach.
KC