Wind turbines hurt homes' resale value
Kingston Whig-Standard|John Harrison Stella|September 17, 2010
Across Ontario, rural residents among turbines are finding their houses un-saleable. Would you buy a house among 86 industrial wind turbines, 28 of them visible from the home and the nearest just 750 metres away? Some of the homes on Wolfe Island are within 500 metres of the nearest turbine.
Across Ontario, rural residents among turbines are finding their houses un-saleable. Would you buy a house among 86 industrial wind turbines, 28 of them visible from the home and the nearest just 750 metres away? Some of the homes on Wolfe Island are within 500 metres of the nearest turbine.
I am writing concerning the article which described the Kenneys' challenge of their Municipal Assessment based on being surrounded by industrial wind turbines ( "Agency to probe turbine impact," Sept. 15). Andy Anstett, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation spokesman, claims that there is no evidence based upon house sales near the turbines to support the claim for loss of property value. "We've had no sales on Wolfe Island and we still don't have any," he said.
That is precisely the point. Across Ontario, rural residents among turbines are finding their houses un-saleable. Would you buy a house among 86 industrial wind turbines, 28 of them visible from the home and the nearest just 750 metres away? Some of the homes on Wolfe …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]I am writing concerning the article which described the Kenneys' challenge of their Municipal Assessment based on being surrounded by industrial wind turbines ( "Agency to probe turbine impact," Sept. 15). Andy Anstett, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation spokesman, claims that there is no evidence based upon house sales near the turbines to support the claim for loss of property value. "We've had no sales on Wolfe Island and we still don't have any," he said.
That is precisely the point. Across Ontario, rural residents among turbines are finding their houses un-saleable. Would you buy a house among 86 industrial wind turbines, 28 of them visible from the home and the nearest just 750 metres away? Some of the homes on Wolfe Island are within 500 metres of the nearest turbine.
Across Ontario there are complaints of turbine noise causing annoyance, sleep disturbance and consequent health problems. Medical and other authorities recommend setbacks from homes of 1.5 to 2 km. This advice has been ignored by the wind energy industry and the Ontario government.