I have a small MHP in NYS. There are plans to erect a wind farm around my park. Was wondering if any park owners have run into this. Specifically I am interested in any adverse effects their presence had on the park and surrounding area from a health perspective, tenant noise/health complaints and property values. Personal experiences are welcome. Any insight would be appreciated.
This is a big deal in my area.
http://fairwindenergy.org/
I don’t live in the affected county, but close.
- Bad county board, but promised lower tax rates because wind farm
taking up the slack; tax rates went up. School that got windmill windfall had equivalent amount withheld from their state funding for no net gain. - Few local people hired to help put up windmills–some, but not all. But still their workers do need to eat local and live local.
- Some difficulties in selling properties with a turbine in the backyard. The neighboring farmer owns the property where the windmill is, so the home owner is the financial loser.
- Will the company putting them up will be able to take them down at the end of their useful life? Some companies argue the scrap metal will be worth it, but the equipment required to do take-down would probably put most operations in the negative on that job. Already the windmill farm in my area has changed hands twice.
- Some weird harmonic issues in some homes or from some turbines, sounds like a semi is coming up the road or down the hallway, all the time.
- Light flicker caused by blades at certain times of the year.
- Depending on your area, they may or may not live up to the promised energy generation.
Lately in expansion areas the wind farm has bought homes nearby, and re-marketed them at a real reasonable price with the marketing that they will pay your property tax forever–or maybe it’s a turbine on the property will cover the property tax, not sure.
There’s a “windmill turbine syndrome” which is sort of anxiety-ish symptoms, some people say it’s not the windmills causing it, but it’s the obsessing about the windmills that causes it.
Overall I have mixed feelings. I’ve heard my area is one where they’re not living up to the expected production. They are cool to drive by but ugly to see all the time. I’m not a sensitive person so I think I could get over the noise and vibration having one out the backyard, but I also would expect to get my housing a little cheaper in that case.
For a park in windmill country, I expect lots of complaining, but no action from tenants. Affordable housing is affordable housing.
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In this case, my experience is not with a community but rather our farm. We have windmills all over part of our acreage. I certainly cannot complain because we were paid initially, paid again while they accessed the land, and now receive money monthly plus free electricity.
The beef cattle, sheep, and horses that were there before they went up definitely had negative reactions to them, some serious. The horses, eight years later, are used to it, but it took some time. Animals born on the land, pay little attention to them, but we still have some problems with the feeder calves we bring in which affects how many months it takes them to feed out. I would not put dairy cows and windmills together - they go off their milk for too long.
I have two cousins working the land. Neither one of them have any trouble, but one cousin’s wife does. We also had to replace a hired man.
Hope this helps.