Clinton County Wind Watch

Home & Property Values

To Homeowners & Property Owners,

Installing a commercial grade wind industrial zone has proved to depreciate homes and land values. Do you really want to hurt your neighbors’ biggest investment just to earn a few more bucks? These are your friends, relatives, and neighbors! Our neighbor to the North, Canada, currently has 12 homes located within a 36 turbine cluster that are now unmarketable homes and were abandon by their homeowners due to,

· shadow flicker (30 hours a year is allowed in Clinton County per our ordinance)

· health related problems caused by wind turbines

Additionally, land and homes surrounding industrial wind turbines are having their true cash value impacted. The typical home value and property has,

· decreased by 20% to 45% if the house is within 2 miles of an industrial wind facility

· decreased property values by an average 40%

We are now learning that some states, like Wisconsin have passed legislation which forces developers to compensate landowners within a half mile of a wind industrial zone due to decreased property values. Another Wisconsin study has showed a huge impact on assessed values. These values showed,

· sales located within 1 mile of a industrial wind facility prior to the installation were 104% of assessed value

· after the wind industrial zone was completed the same area was 78% of the assessed value.

Unfortunately, our Clinton County Commissioners and Planning & Zoning board haven’t provided any resident with a home or vacant land protection clause. In Clinton County, a wind developer can install an industrial wind zone within A1 or A2 land classifications if the developer has willing land owners that will lease their land. Our Planning & Zoning and some Commissioners believe that the first mile is restricted from wind turbines due to a project growth area. However, if the landowner really wants to fight to have a turbine within the first mile and has either A1 or A2 classification, then the County will lose their battle. Even if the turbines aren’t located in the first mile of Fowler, the homes in Fowler are still within the affected property value area.

We need our County Government to understand the problems and perform some due diligence to protect the residents, not protect certain landowners or out-of-town wind developers!

MARCH, 2009: One study, of people living near the Mars Hill Wind Turbine Project in the State of Maine, presented to the Maine Medical Association in March 2009 showed that 100% of respondents in the study felt quality of life was affected and 100% considered moving. The study further concluded that 73% said they could not afford to move and 90% said a recent professional appraisal showed loss of home value made it impossible to move away.
http://www.batr.net/cohoctonwindwatch/
FEB. 13, 2009: When Derry Gardner of Gardner Appraisal Group, Inc. out of San Antonio, Texas, hears that turbines do not affect property values or neighboring property values, he says, “it goes against common sense, which automatically raises a red flag.” Gardner says a 350 acre ranch in Erath Co., Texas, is one example. It was purchased at top price for a retirement homestead. The new owner learned that 27 wind turbines were to be placed within a 1.5 mile radius and put the ranch up for sale. A prospective buyer agreed to the sales price but backed out when the turbine project was disclosed. The seller offered a 25% discount but the prospective buyer declined. Gardner states that properties with turbines averaged a 37% decrease in value, properties 2/10 to 4/10 of a mile from turbines had a 26% average drop and properties in which turbines were up to 1.8 miles away experienced an average value decrease of 25%.
http://betterplan.squarespace.com/todays-special/2009/3/26/32609-this-old-house-in-the-shadow-of-a-40-story-wind-turbin.html
NOV. 2008: Chris Luxemburger, Real Estate Broker with Sutton Group - Professional Realty, Inc, did a three year study on the land values inside a windmill zone. Based on a sample of 600 properties that sold in the windmill areas over a period of three years, it showed that the number of days on the market were more than double for those properties inside the windmill zones. The sold price was on average $48,000 lower inside the windmill zones than those outside. Also, the number of homes not absorbed (not sold) was 11% vs 3%.
http://ruralgrubby.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/chris-luxemburger-presentation1.pdf
APR. 30, 2008: According to Michael McCann of McCann Appraisals LLC in Chicago, IL, “Turbines are large-scale industrial machines/projects, which surround homes, unlike any other large-scale projects. I have never seen a situation akin to wind farms where an industrial zoning ‘overlay’ encompasses and surrounds existing homes”. McCann, a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser who has qualified as an expert witness on real estate value & zoning cases in 20 states, has reviewed residential sale data for 46 transactions new the boundaries of Illinois’ first wind project, Mendota Hills, in Lee County that occurred after turbines were erected from 2003 thru March 2005, “a strong market overall.” The homes averaged a sale price of $74.63 per square foot, he says. A separate group of sales much further removed from the project averaged $102.94 per square foot. He says the sales data reveals that the typical home within a mile or two of project boundaries is 25% lower in value than for more distant homes. Some examples range upward of 30% and, in softer current market conditions, he anticipates value discounts exceeding 30% and perhaps as high as 50%.
http://betterplan.squarespace.com/todays-special/2009/3/26/32609-this-old-house-in-the-shadow-of-a-40-story-wind-turbin.html
Barbara Pitcairn, Owner/Designated Broker for Maine’s Presque Isle & Fort Kent Offices of Aroostook Real Estate, says the devaluation of property is a big issue. Pitcairn says it is her broker’s professional opinion that several of the homes located near wind turbines on Mars Hill Mountain suffer from diminished value.
http://betterplan.squarespace.com/todays-special/2009/3/26/32609-this-old-house-in-the-shadow-of-a-40-story-wind-turbin.html
Land owner, John Servo of Naples, NY, had a recent appraisal of a 25-acre parcel near the Steuben County line, where developer, Ecogen’s, turbines are planned, came back with a reduced value. Based on the appraisal, the Naple’s assessor lowered the assessment by 60% because the land was deemed too close to future turbines. http://www.mpnnow.com/archive/x1393569912/Naples-hears-from-windmill-supporter-turned-opponent
The Renewable Energy Policy Project (REPP) (May 2003). Read a critique of the US government financed study of realestate values around Wind Turbine Farms.
http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/wp-content/uploads/studycommitteecritiqueofmay17th.doc