The looming steel poles at the center of a controversial United Illuminating proposal could move north of the railroad tracks, away from a location some say threatened nearly 20 acres of private property between Fairfield and Bridgeport. In a non-binding “straw poll,” the Connecticut Siting Council, which oversees power line projects, voted in favor of the relocation Thursday as an alternative to UI’s application to hang its transmission lines from the steel structures known as monopoles standing up to 145 feet tall between Fairfield and Bridgeport along the south side of the state’s railroad corridor. The Siting Council is due to deliver its official decision on the project next month, but its vote is the first indication of the body’s thinking on the hotly contested monopoles through a year of regulatory proceedings. The issue has gained traction in Fairfield and then Bridgeport over the past five months as local residents and businesses have teamed up to seek out lawyers and make a case against UI, slamming the permanent damage the project would do to the visual landscape, ecosystem and economy.
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/fairfield/article/ui-monopoles-fairfield-siting-council-18644059.php