Impact Analysis of the Niyol Wind Farm on Surrounding Rural Residential and Agricultural Land Values in Logan County, Colorado
Forensic Appraisal GroupForensic Appraisal Group
Forensic Appraisal GroupForensic Appraisal Group
Prepared for Concerned Citizens for a Safe Logan County, Sterling, Colorado, by Forensic Appraisal Group, Neenah, Wisconsin – June 11, 2020
This report was contracted by Concerned Citizens for a Safe Logan County for our opinion on how the 200.8MW Niyol Wind LLC will impact rural residential and agricultural farm values within the wind farm footprint and 1-mile outside of this zone of this proposed wind farm.
Niyol Wind is a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy. The wind farm is located in the Fleming area, Logan County, Colorado. The conditional use permit submitted by Niyol states that the wind farm will occupy 39,314 acres of area. The development will have 89 wind turbines, having a height (including the tower and blades at 12 o’clock position) of 495ft-505ft. The project will include graveled access roads over private land to the wind turbines, a maintenance area of approximately 4-acres, a substation of 10-acres graveled with a chain-link security fence and outside yard lighting, two meteorological towers being 275ft in height, underground and above ground electrical supply lines and a thirty-one mile 230kV high voltage transmission line that is to link up with an existing high voltage transmission line for transmission of the produced energy. The three-blade wind turbines will be one of two models: the GE 2.5MW turbine or the GE 2.8MW. The electrical collector lines are to be buried, the collector substation is above ground and connected to an overhead 230kV high voltage transmission line.
The study results are summarized as follows.
Literature Study
The media generally portrays the impact of wind turbines on residential properties as negative, bringing up fear factors and conflicting benefit, or no benefit issues. Overall, the qualitative factor is centered along the lines of health, noise, flicker, and viewshed. With regard to the question, “Do wind turbines affect property value?” the two Centerville Township (Michigan) officials summed it up with this statement: “It is totally counterintuitive to suggest anything else.”
Impact Studies
Wind industry and government supported studies found little to no evidence of an impact. However, independent studies found a significant impact using a variety of valuation methods from paired sales analysis to multi-regression analysis.
The Landsink (Ontario, CA) study found a loss range of −8.85% to −50%, with a loss average of −39% for residential homes within 664ft to 2,531ft of a wind farm.
The Appraisal Group One Wisconsin Study found a typical loss of 1-10 acre residential lots within 1⁄2-mile of wind turbines to be −19% to −40%.
The Clarkson University upstate New York study of both residential and agricultural properties found a loss ranging from −15.6% to −31% within 1-3 miles of a wind farm.
The Forensic Appraisal Coral Springs (WY) study of large residential lots (35 acres) which would be abutting a proposed wind farm suffered a value impact of −25% to −44%.
The McCann study (IL) of residential properties found an average impact of −25% within 2-miles of a wind farm.
The Forensic Appraisal Big Sky (IL) study found a loss range of −12% to −25% of residences within 0.31mi to 1.72mi of a wind turbine, with an average impact of −19% at an average distance of 0.65 miles to a wind turbine.
The Twin Grove II Wind Farm (McLean County, IL) study of a 198MW wind farm comprised of 120 turbines being 397ft in height over an 11,000 acres area. A paired sales analysis of residential property within the influence of the wind farm found the improved property is negatively impacted by the presence of wind turbines. The impact measured ranged from −46.6% to −7.7%, with the higher impact closest to the wind turbines and the impact diminishing as the distance is increased. The distances measured ranged 1,483ft to 5,481ft away from a residence.
The Twin Grove II Wind Farm also found an overall impact of −6.63% to −8.5% for vacant agricultural properties within the wind farm zone.
We conclude that the following impacts will be experienced by the Niyol wind farm on the client’s properties:
Download original document: “Impact Analysis of the Niyol Wind Farm on Surrounding Rural Residential and Agricultural Land Values in Logan County, Colorado [1]”
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[1] Impact Analysis of the Niyol Wind Farm on Surrounding Rural Residential and Agricultural Land Values in Logan County, Colorado: https://docs.wind-watch.org/Niyol-Wind-Farm-Property-Value-Report.pdf