Lewes wind turbine lowered property value
Cape Gazette, capegazette.villagesoup.com 2 March 2012
I am a retired White Plains, N.Y. policeman, and builder and Jerry Lechliter’s neighbor on Harborview Road in Lewes. Before I bought my lot in 2006 I talked with two neighbors about the land behind my lot and was told it was open space and would remain so forever. Much to my surprise, in 2010 I had a 410-foot monster practically in my backyard in this open space.
I had a property appraisal right before the wind turbine was built and one right after it had been in operation for a couple of months which was considerably lower and cannot be attributed just to the current weak housing market. If I put my house up for sale, full disclosure laws require me to tell any prospective buyer about the noise. Common sense tells you I won’t get the same selling price for an equivalent house located in a Lewes location distant from the turbine. The turbine makes noise that prevents me from sleeping if my window is open and sometimes even with the windows closed and ceiling fan on to try and drown out the noise.
From my backyard, I have probably one of the most unobstructed views of it. It is intrusive and unacceptable, is on state-owned open space, and the shell corporation created to own it makes about $500,000 per year to include money from tax credits. We taxpayers get nothing in return. It was constructed with no public input and the people we elected in the city and who work in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control did nothing to protect our interests. If I had known this monstrosity would be built where it is, I would have bought a lot elsewhere in Lewes.
Edgar P. Small
Lewes
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/03/04/lewes-wind-turbine-lowered-property-value/