Laserfiche WebLink
5. Property Values: <br />Evidences indicates that the presence <br />of wind turbines increases neighboring <br />property values. No study has ever <br />concluded that wind turbines - neither <br />large nor small - have had a depressing <br />effect on nearby residential property <br />values. <br />6. Insurance: <br />The small wind system should simply <br />be added to existing homeowner, farm, <br />or business policies as.an "appurtenant" <br />(uninhabited) structure and not require <br />a separate policy. Precautions such as <br />setback requirements for wind turbines <br />7. Abandonment: <br />Some towns require assurance that any <br />non-functioning turbine will be removed <br />after a period of time to prevent <br />unnecessary clutter in a community. <br />Abandonment due to malfunction has <br />become particularly rare due to today's <br />improved technology, though a <br />community should be entitled to <br />recourse should an abandoned turbine <br />present a nuisance. . <br />Security bonds may be required for <br />large, utility -scale turbines which are <br />located on land leased from a third - <br />party property owner, but these are <br />8 A May 2003 study by the Renewable Energy Policy <br />Project (REPP) study, The E,iect of Vilind Development <br />on Local Property Values, finds that "...for the great <br />majority of projects the property values actually rose <br />more quickly in the view shed than they did in the <br />comparable community. Moreover, values increased <br />faster in the view shed after the projects came online <br />than they did before." Available of htlp://www. crest. org/ <br />articles/static/l/ binaries/wind_online_final.pdf. <br />A recent survey found that most people <br />are interested in or willing to pay more <br />for homes equipped with solar panels or <br />wind turbines.9 <br />are designed specifically to protect that <br />which is beyond one's own property line. <br />Homeowner's insurance policies make <br />no distinction based on how far a turbine <br />is from one's own house, so neither <br />should zoning. rules. <br />inappropriate and unduly burdensome <br />for owners of small systems who install <br />turbines on land they own. It is <br />recommended that any small wind <br />turbine owner whose equipment is <br />inoperable for six months be notified <br />by the zoning committee that the <br />owners have six months from the notice <br />date to restore their system to operating <br />condition. If the owner fails, the wind <br />turbine should be removed from the <br />tower for safety reasons. The tower <br />itself would then be managed under the <br />Public Nuisance language of the rest of <br />the existing_ zoning code. <br />See also: Advice from an Expert: Residential Wind <br />Turbines and Property Value. American Wind Energy <br />Assoc. h,—Lp://v,,wi,,,.awea.org/laq/sagrillo/ms-7oning <br />_property values.html. <br />9 "Renewable Energy Study." California Energy <br />Commission, Nov. 2001. http://wwv,,.energ),.ca.gov/ <br />re ports/ 2002-04-03_500-02-016. pd f . <br />p. 23 <br />Windward Engineering <br />4.25kW turbine <br />Bergey WindPower <br />1OkW XLS turbine <br />lowered for <br />ground maintenance <br />