File it under the too bizarre not to be true heading.
Last week The Westerly Sun reported on the Watch Hill Fire District filing an appeal with the town's Zoning Board of Review to get the owner of St. Clair Annex to remove the newly installed solar panels from the roof of a building at 141 Bay St. Really?
The lawyer for the fire district is quoted by the Sun as saying that the "view from the street … should be maintained." Nevermind that the panels are on the western side of the building and thus not visible from the only public thoroughfare in that part of Watch Hill.
Nevermind that the owner of the panels received permission from the condominium association that owns the building as well as the town planner and zoning official to install the panels, which he estimates will cut his electricity bill by 90 percent.
This absurd appeal is an example of many things, not the least of which is the oppressive business climate in Rhode Island, one that would seek to hurt a family-owned business that has operated for more than 125 years. •