Why would county grant modification?
Kokomo Tribune | May 30, 2013 | kokomotribune.com
I thought the BZA spoke clearly at the public meeting on March 20. It stated 1,500 feet from property lines. Why is juwi Wind coming back with a modification of conditions, asking for 1,400 feet from non-participating residences and 1,250 from participating residences?
One thousand five hundred feet from property lines. What’s so hard to understand about that? If that makes it impossible to have windmills in Tipton County, then I guess they don’t fit in.
Juwi also wants waivers and variances so it can add to the reduced number of 70 that fit in the 1,400-foot setback and squeeze in nine more turbines. As I and many have stated before, 1,500 feet does not meet the required safety zone set by the manufacturers Vestas and GE of 1,640 feet for their own employees to live in. Why would we, the citizens of Tipton County, deserve any less?
Using the residence instead of the property line limits my use of my property. Question No. 3 on the BZA worksheet states “… the adjacent property will not be affected in a substantially adverse manner ….” If I am no longer allowed to use my property as I wish, since I am the one paying for it, then the construction of a wind turbine 1,400 feet from my house adversely affects my property. Using the residence instead of the property line gives juwi, or whomever comes next, control over what I can or cannot do in that 1,400 feet between my house and the windmill.
What happens five or 10 years down the road, when properties try to sell or change hands and the participating is now a non-participating property? Economics as we know are not a given. The economy could come crashing down again and force property owners to sell or maybe go into foreclosure. Where does the bank stand with a property with a windmill on it that, by then, is in disrepair or maybe not even functioning?
So I ask the Tipton County commissioners and the members of the BZA: If you don’t take the manufacturers’ recommendations into consideration, and you ignore the safety and health issues, you ignore the fact that most counties, states and countries are increasing setbacks from 1,500 feet to as much as 5 miles from property lines. And if you don’t listen to the voice of the citizens of Tipton County and grant the modification request, then what could you possibly base your decision on? Politics? Money?
And speaking of money, even Donald Trump says they are ugly and will impact the aesthetics and reduce the value of his new golf course planned in Scotland and plans to sue to stop its construction.
Stan Jones
Tipton
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/05/30/why-would-county-grant-modification/