Environmental rules run amok

By Charlie Bucknam

Recently Judge Meredith Wright of the Environmental Court ruled in favor of Karl Rinker’s application to construct a 180 foot cell tower on Bridgeman Hill in Hardwick.   That is potentially is good news for those of us who wish to see the Hardwick area extend its economic momentum. Reliable cell service is essential for a vibrant economy.  Unfortunately, the opponents of the cell tower have again appealed to the Supreme Court, resulting in yet another costly delay.  Supreme Court decisions usually take between 18 months and 2 years after the appeal process has started.  This case is  symptomatic of a permit process in this State that takes too long and is far too costly for the applicant, taxpayers, and ultimately, consumers.  Rinker first applied for his permit in 2004. Since then he has had to present his case over and over at town hearings, the Environmental Court on two occasions, and now twice to the Vermont Supreme Court.  Rinker has won every time, but at an enormous cost.  It has cost Rinker over $100,000 in attorneys fees so far, and we’ll probably never know what it has cost taxpayers. The one thing we do know is that the protracted process has deprived area residents of adequate cell phone coverage for six years.

Unfortunately, Rinker’s experience is not an isolated case. During my 30+ years as a banker in the Northeast Kingdom, I have encountered numerous cases where Act 250 permit applications for my customers routinely took more than 1 year and often over 3 years. I have had customers who decided not to undertake projects simply because they decided the permit process was too daunting. I am aware of a housing development in Lyndonville where the Act 250 process took over three years and effectively added $10,000 to $15,000 to the cost of each of the 16 homes that were ultimately permitted. Examples like these helped create Vermont’s unfortunate “unfriendly to business” reputation--and ultimately hurt the consumer.  The extra cost of those homes was, without a doubt, passed on to the home buyers. 

If Vermont is to be competitive with other states for new businesses and jobs, we need to support economic growth with a new permitting system that is applied uniformly, is cost effective, and timely. Karl Rinker and others requiring permits to start or grow a business are entitled to definitive answers at reasonable cost, in reasonable time. The system has failed in his case. It failed him. It failed taxpayers. It failed the abutting landowners, and it failed the rest of a community deserving of cell phone service.