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StumbleHenderson rejects proposed wind turbine in neighborhood
Published Wednesday, July 21, 2010 | 10:51 a.m.
Updated Wednesday, July 21, 2010 | 6:13 p.m.
Henderson resident Kermitt L. Waters wants to put a wind turbine at his home.
Site of proposed wind turbine
Sun Archives
After about two hours of testimony and discussion, Kermitt Waters’ neighbors rejoiced and hugged. The Henderson City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night against Waters’ request to build a 45-foot wind turbine in his backyard.
The Henderson Planning Commission denied Waters’ request Jan. 14 to build the wind turbine near his home on Crown Valley Drive. He appealed to the council, arguing there is nothing in the city’s code that prohibits the turbine.
The council has delayed making a decision several times, requesting further information about the turbine’s safety and aesthetics from Waters’ legal team.
“His goal, he thought, was very simple,” Waters’ attorney George Garcia said. “He thought he was going to be following a very straightforward process.”
Garcia described Waters as someone who wanted to set an example. He wanted not to just talk about green energy, Garcia said, but to implement it and inspire others to do the same.
Waters wasn’t able to attend Tuesday’s meeting.
“Clearly, this council supports green energy solutions,” said Councilwoman Debra March. “I don’t believe this is the right project in the right location.”
During the meeting, 11 residents spoke against the turbine, most saying they feared the turbine would be unsafe or would lower their property values. Twenty other residents filled out cards to speak against the turbine, but elected not to speak.
Cami Putnam, who is against the wind turbine, said that after doing her own research she feared that a 45-foot-tall turbine would place it in turbulent winds.
“Runaway turbines are caused by turbulent winds,” she said, wearing a lime-green T-shirt that read, “I’m Not a Big Fan.” She said she likes the idea of green energy, but “this turbine doesn’t belong in a residential neighborhood.”
Putnam said she spent many nights knocking on doors and had 252 signatures for a petition against Waters’ turbine. About half of those signatures, she said, came from within her neighborhood.
Putnam’s backyard is adjacent to where the wind turbine would be.
Darrell Pepper, a professor of mechanical engineering at UNLV, whose students constructed Waters’ turbine for a class project, said the turbine would be safe in its location, and that Southern Nevada is an ideal location for wind energy.
“That turbine would not fail or come off that pole until winds reach 268 miles per hour,” Pepper said.
Pepper said he conducted acoustic studies, which showed that when the turbine moved, it created 2 decibels of sound. The ambient sound in Waters’ backyard was about 25 times louder, he said.
Pepper said studies have shown the turbine wouldn’t affect property values.
Councilman Steve Kirk disagreed, saying property values are too subjective to accurately quantify within the neighborhood. Kirk had said in a previous meeting he wouldn’t buy a home next to a turbine.
During the council’s June 1 meeting, Kirk suggested the council allow for a small wind farm away from residential areas. That way, he said, there could be a compromise between going green and making residents happy.
All four council members voted in favor of the motion. Debra March wasn’t in attendance.
Mayor Andy Hafen said he hopes the city will consider the wind farm option in the future.
“I don’t think we should let that go,” he said. “There needs to be a lot of trial and error before we get this right.”
Waters, a prominent eminent domain lawyer known for fighting for landowners’ rights, estimates he has spent about $50,000 on the turbine, including legal costs. Garcia estimates he has spent much more than that.
“The average person cannot do what he did,” Garcia said, adding that Waters will ultimately lose money on the turbine, even if he is allowed to install it and reap energy savings.
Waters said Wednesday he plans to take the issue to court.
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NIMBY
I guess the freeway is such a cosmetic eyesore a wind generator would do it no justice. Stupid.
everyone talks "Green", but no one wants it in their living area - how stupid..the wind turbine is NOT going to fall down..thats like saying a telphone pole is going to fall down, so don't put it by my house. Thats what engineers and city engineers are for - sign off the project to insure it is built correctly..as for the neighborhood and its "estetics", how about the stupid looking TV sat. dishes? Will they fall down?
I think it's horrible that he cannot install a wind turbine on his own property. It's just more of the same BS just like the rules of the infamous HOA's. This city is ruled by HOA's with rampant rules of how to live. Yeah, live the American lifestyle, home, kids, cars, keep up the yard (by your neighbors rules).
More control by neighbors and gov't means less living in a free world. Let the man go green and keep your noses to yourself. Don't you have something better to do like govern your own life, or clean the garage? Petitions? Hogwash. Get a life.
Blah blah blah...
Turbines are a blight on the landscape.
We need more people like Waters who will actually DO SOMETHING to save energy. Nevada has plenty of wind, including that coming from Commissioners and other politicians. How soon is Henderson actually going to create a wind farm? They'll just let that drop, I'm sure.
I totally agree with going green, however one small item was left out .. Mr Waters doesn't live at the property in question. I don't think he ever has, and the property has been vacant for quite some time. So, he wants to build a wind turbine to go "green" in a house that is not occupied. That makes sense !!!! Why not try to put the wind turbine up where he actually lives?
I agree with the city's decision. I wouldn't want that turbine next door to me either. If you want a wind turbine you should move to a large plat of land not located within an HOA community or City Limits.
There are other ways to be "green" without installing a turbine.
This should be allowed and even encouraged. We don't need big wind or solar farms. Just put a turbine in your yard or solar panels on your roof. I'm not a "green" person per se but it makes sense to me that new houses should have solar water heaters at a minimum and maybe be pre-wired for solar panels. With this heat here not having solar water heaters seems odd.
What a bunch of hypocrites--everyone screams for green energy and moans about global warming but when someone decides to "act locally" they throw tantrums. I live in Henderson, and I would welcome a wind turbine next door and I would probably install one myself. It should be every Nevada citizen's goal to bankrupt the thieves at Nevada Power with our own solar and wind energy, either on our own homes or in our own neighborhoods.
The problem with denying Mr. Watters his permit is that he is a very competent, respected, and feared eminent domain attorney and is probably going to sue Henderson and claim this amounts to a "taking." The City of Henderson, already bankrupt because of the bloated salaries of its fat officials, will squander tens of thousands of dollars defending itself.
Waters' has no interest in going green. He's an old senile attorney, living in Texas who is nothing more than a trouble maker.
He has no "green" agenda and until he lives in the house for at least six months a year, he has no credibility.
Wouldn't it just be easier to talk about the real issue, which is a population beyond what our resources will bear.
It's nice to recycle a can or carry a reusable water container around, but wouldn't a 10% reduction in our population over the next generation serve us far better?
the outcome of the decision is sad. I support you Waters!
If this is a UNLV mechanical engineering project, why doesn't Mr Waters have it tested at UNLV or, even better, at his law offices on 9th Street in Las Vegas where he'll even get more publicity.
Folks it 45 feet tall. That's pertty big to have in a backyard. I wouldn't buy a house next to that thing. If he gets one than everyone should have one. Think of that for a second, Every-house having these gross looking things around. What's wrong with solar pannels? Try again Walters. For those he say they are cool with them, let's see someone put one in a yard next to your house.
tvegas wrote: "Turbines are a blight on the landscape."
There are many other things that are a blight on the landscape, much more damaging than a wind powered generator. Landscape damage? Hmmm... yeah Casinos, Housing developments that destroy natural environment and our land. You can't talk about a "blight on landscape" if you live in an urban disaster like Las Vegas. Snooty folks living behind their HOA crap is not pretty on the landscape.
Let the guy do something positive instead of sitting around complaining about everything.
HOA's should be outlawed so people can live without restriction. If you don't like the way neighbors live... move.
45 feet tall? So what? It's a natural way to harness energy. This city is going to preppy and overuse itself out of existence any way. Why? Because of abuse of the land. At least he's trying something innovative.
dumb.
We just have nuclear energy in each home, clean, quiet, and safe... kinda.
Not something that is safe for a residential area.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppLh5pGX3...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqEccgR0q...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbMO7ufAT...
"Pepper said studies have shown the turbine wouldn't affect property values."
Make the study public, for all of us to read. My guess is that it deals with farmland areas.
Ative1:
Good videos but they were of 300' Horizontal wind turbines of the 1.8 mega watt.
The one being proposed was a forty foot tall Vertical axis wind turbine with a rotory span of 6' not a apples to apples comparison.
All tho if I lived next door I would be ok with it as long as the owner homestead the property and actually live there.
@HobieD
"HOA's should be outlawed so people can live without restriction. If you don't like the way neighbors live... move".
You are right, he should move
I salute the Henderson Planning Commission for sticking to their decision and keeping this type of installation out of Mr. Waters' neighborhood.
My company, http://etcgreen.com, sells and installs wind turbines and I contacted Mr. Waters months ago requesting that he back down from this effort. Installing a wind turbine of this size and at his requested height in his neighborhood simply does not make sense. Creating this confrontation has resulted in still more negative feelings against the small wind industry in southern Nevada.
We offered to purchase the turbine from Mr. Waters so he could recoup his capital investment. We offered to install the turbine on a property better suited for this size unit and setting up a Power Purchase Agreement so he would receive the benefits of the power being generated. We offered to sell him a turbine that the Planning Commission would approve on his property. He was not interested.
This is the reason municipalities have Planning Commissions and in this case, the system worked to the benefit of the community. I believe the Commission members are supportive of small wind turbines in the right place at the right scale with the right design.
Steve (http://etcgreen.com)
What a sad day in American history! The United States is the largest consumer of Petroleum both foreign and domestic! Yet you have these Right Wing Conservative Nazis in places like Henderson Nevada who oppose anything that is green, clean technology. What gives? All those neo-cons won't rest until EVER SINGLE TREE is chopped down and made into paper, firewood and furniture. They won't rest until EVERY SINGLE waterway on Earth is polluted and all the fish are dead and there is no more freshwater for people to drink and grow crops with. What has America come to these days? What about me. I want my country back as well.