Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?

Boothbay Selectmen impose six-month moratorium on solar farms.

Photo by American Public Power Association on Unsplash

I was profoundly struck by the fact that there is a story in the Boothbay Register about the Boothbay selectmen voting 5-0 to issue a moratorium on solar farms in response to the solar company questioning their permit fees.

In other action, selectmen voted, 5-0, to impose a six-month moratorium on commercial solar farms. The moratorium is in response to concerns about a proposed solar farm on Route 27 which received planning board approval. The code office received complaints about a $39,204 permit fee. source

The story was presented inside another story about punitive actions taken by the Boothbay selectmen in imposing a $250 fine against violators of the “No Dogs” policy for the newly installed baseball field and $500 for second offenses.

The No Dogs story has a …