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StumbleVote delayed on allowing wind turbine at Henderson home
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.
Henderson resident Kermitt L. Waters wants to put a wind turbine at his home.
Site of proposed wind turbine
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The Henderson City Council on Tuesday put off a decision on whether to allow a resident to put up a 45-foot-tall wind turbine in his yard, despite the objections of his neighbors.
The council voted unanimously to revisit the issue in 90 days to give Kermitt L. Waters time to prove to the council the safety and functioning of the wind turbine.
Waters, 74, an eminent domain lawyer who works in Las Vegas, wants to erect the turbine at his home on Crown Valley Drive. The proposed site for the wind turbine is at the northeast corner of Crown Valley and Sapphire Valley Avenue, near I-215.
Waters also owns a large ranch in his hometown of Childress, Texas. He said he has a wind turbine there, and nobody has complained about it.
Waters said his turbine would not violate any existing city codes, and his neighbor has a palm tree that is taller than the turbine would be.
The Henderson Planning Commission rejected the proposal for the turbine on Jan. 14, so Waters appealed to the City Council.
Waters has agreed to paint the turbine a similar color to the surrounding homes so it blends in with the neighborhood, but that has done little to appease his neighbors.
Dozens of his neighbors showed up at Tuesday’s meeting to protest the turbine.
Cami Putnam, 40, who lives in a house behind Waters’ home, said her main concerns are safety, noise and the impact the turbine would have on the value of her house.
“I have knocked on every door in the neighborhood,” she said.
Before the meeting, Putnam handed out yellow pins that read, “I’m Not a Big Fan: Not in My Neighborhood.”
The turbine Waters wants to put in his yard was built by engineering students at UNLV.
The wind turbine is called an “H” model, because of its shape, said Darrell Pepper, a professor of mechanical engineering at UNLV whose students built the turbine.
The blades sit on a vertical axis, and move silently, he said.
Last week, Mayor Andy Hafen and council members Kathleen Boutin, Debra March and Gerri Schroder visited the warehouse where the turbine is being stored to see it for themselves. But they have not publicly discussed which way they might be leaning on the issue.
Pepper said the turbine as an opportunity to learn more about wind energy possibilities in Southern Nevada.
“Everybody wants to do solar here, but in truth, you could do wind as well,” he said.
Ralston James Hogge, a civil engineer and Waters’ friend, said the turbine “has been designed by the information sent by the manufacturer. It is being built to all city codes.”
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It is a shame that these neighbors don't really care about the environment and the future environment for their kids.
We need to move to an ecologically sustainable existence.
Time to move to the future. The city council needs
to make a statement that this is the future and move las vegas to a futuristic city.
Seems every neighborhood has an idiot resident.
Kermitt, your neighbors have politely said they don't want this. Why do you persist in making other peoples lives miserable? Or, do you actually know what is best for all?
Take your ten-gallon hat and move back to Texas.
BTW, a palm tree is not the same as your wind turbine, taller or not.
I hope the thing is bullet proof. It sounds like the neighbors are really upset.
This is nothing more than an activist (long-in-the-tooth) lawyer wanting to start a conflict -- This is not about a small wind turbine to power and recharge his hover-round.
The response needs to be as follows: 20 neighbors each file separate lawsuits, seek damages and legal fees and see how much energy this "green-cowboy" has for litigation in-bulk.
Clowns like this -- have hijacked our medical system and now the green-movement will only be discredited by these wackos.
Mr. Kermit
you should offer your neighbors some free electricity. Give them a piece of the action. Thats all they want.
Mr. Waters doesn't even live in this house. If this monstrosity is so wonderful, why isn't he installing it at his actual residence?
Wind turbines are fine, but not on the dinky little lots that we have here in the Las Vegas Valley.
sounds like a good idea to me, it will do nothing but create energy and no waste, so why not. it meets codes .
Why should my neighbors have the right to tell me what I can and cannot do with my property.... Yes, it's time to change the thugocracy we live in.
As long as were not turning our property into a junkyard or painting the house purple who cares what we do with our house & the property it sits on.
What idiot thinks it is OK to build a 45-foot-tall ANYTHING in the back yard of a house in a single family home neighborhood? I can't believe the City Council is even considering this. If City Code allows ANYTHING that tall on our postage-stamp lots, City Code needs to be CHANGED.
I am a practicing electrical engineer, so I know a little about what I am about to say. One wind turbine, by itself, of the size shown, is really not going to make that much of a difference. If one wants to use wind turbines to produce electricity, fine. But use large wind turbines, like the ones in the Tahachapi pass in California, use hundreds of them in a wind turbine farm, place them hundreds of feet in the air, add bird screens so that you don't kill the birds, and then connect them to the grid. This scheme will definitely have an impact.
But one small turrbine? No. This guy has some other agenda. Like prooving that he can control others, or who knows what.
Welcome to Nevada. We have the small government types who want no laws until something like this comes along then they want government to step in. The same small minds objected to solar heating on roofs and had it banned for years. Today, there is a law preventing HOAs from refusing to allow them. If the turbines are not overly noisy, are painted to match the surroundings, and do not encroach into the setbacks who cares? I want one in my yard, too. I am tired of paying NV Energy exorbitant rate increases every year. If BloomBox type technology becomes cost effective, we may not need solar, wind, or NVE.
TheKash is right. Check out Kermitt's web site for his law office. He's just an old, feeble minded attorney looking to make one last statement for himself and waste the taxpayers time and money.
Is the Henderson Planning Commission and City Council intimidated ?
Why doesn't he just buy a house with enough property around it so his all-important wind turbine isn't towering over his neighbor's houses? Better yet, he should just put it on his ranch in Texas.
Quit bullying your neighbors. How about taking that money and helping some single moms or homeless people?
Why doesn't the gubbermint quit wasting tax dollars telling people what they can and cannot do in the privacy of their own homes and or land.
He actually does have a house in Las Vegas - one that sits on a half acre - one he actually lives in ...... why not install it there, Mr. Waters?
looks like that neighborhoods version of lonnie hammagren,speaking of which,when is he supposed to take all of that junk down that he ruined a beautiful old las vegas housing track with.heard the county commisioners finally shut him down but i drive by his "place' often and the eyesores are still present
I live in this neighborhood. We are all about green energy, but this turbine is an untested first-of-its-kind anywhere other than a sprawling ranch in Texas. It is clearly intended for a much more rural setting.
As has been mentioned by others, I really question the motives of Mr. Waters in this matter. This is not his primary residence and the power savings he will gain from this monster are negligible.
The photo above is only the TOP portion and would sit on an additional 30-35 foot pole. It is huge...not something anyone would want across the street or wall from them. But aesthetics are secondary when you consider the potential safety hazards, noise and negative impact on property values.
We're going to fight this to the bitter end.
He might own the house, but it's vacant and has been for years. If this is such a good idea then why doesn't he put it where he really lives. A few miles away. Kind of silly to put a wind-turbine at a vacant house. unless of course you have alterer motives.. like turning our quite neighborhood into a spectacle for his own business gain. We have spent years picking up the trash out of his yard, the newspapers that pile in his driveway, the flyers off his door and shooing teenagers away that are up to no good and this is the thanks we get!
The neighbors here are not against green energy. But this is wrong for our tiny community. It's too big and its a prototype...It's never even been tested! He's using us as his guinea pig. Put the shoe on your own foot would you like it in your back yard, towering over your house? This may be his recreational home that he obviously doesn't care about, never has. But, it's where the rest of us have put down roots. We know each other and take care of one another. Mr. Waters lives a sad sorry life making others suffer just because he can.
If he had a kind bone in his body he would rethink this and put it somewhere with lots of room where it would be more effective and not hurt our neighborhood.
O.K.Just a thought how tall are these billboards that i have to look at daily, or the fastfood signs, or even the street light poles that hold the lights, I think the turbine will be hidden in plain sight amoung the others.
I sell and install home wind turbines all over the US, Canada, and Europe. I am the inventor of the Home Wind Turbine Kit. There's only one type of turbine that's acceptable for neighborhoods like this. You can see lots of actual video (with sound) at my site. WINDENERGY7.COM
Towers have no business in a residential neighborhood lot. An experimental unit can have fire hazard, don't allow that either in a neighborhood. Besides that, verticals don't produce well anyway compared to normal turbines. Tell the guy to buy an acceptable type wind/solar hybrid system like RoofMillTM Let him put it in, no big deal.
It's not an issue for noise with the rooftop systems. It's not a hazard to bats, birds, or neighbors. Have a look at the videos at my site, like the major windstorm. No problem.
I do not agree about wind farms and giant systems, they too are an eye sore. 7% of all the power they make is lost in transmission! That's what the 7 is about in our company name. By generating at the home, there's not a 7% loss like a remote wind farm. Wind Farms and the grid itself are wasteful, like a leaky pipeline losing 7% everywhere it goes. People don't get that...
Kermit, why are you putting this in a house you don't live in. Why don't you put it over in the million dollar house you bought for Autumn and Michael at 3685 Pama Lane? At least they could tell you if your latest business venture really generates any electricity. Besides, there is more wind down around Sunset Park where they live then there is up on the end of the hill at Crown Valley.
These wind turbines are part of our energy future. Get used to seeing them.
What a joke ,one guy wants a wind turbine for his power ,his neighbors say no? They must be jealous because they don't have the resouces to persue this endeavor. Let the guy have his turbine on a temporary basis to see what kind of trouble its gonna cause, if all is good then done deal. Maybe the neighbors will see differently after its up and running, heck they might even want one for themselves.
let the man have his turbine! Being a lawyer doesn't pay bills.
would you people stop thinking about yourselves for just a moment and start thinking about the children. first i think its a good example for the children of the 21st century. it will cause them to ask questions and maybe want to learn more about something good. Second, our kids spent too much time in the house and this will give them a reason to go outside because throwing rocks at that thing will teach them camaraderie and good hand/eye coordination. You get them out of the house. They make new friends and they learn something.
PlanetEarth:
I disagree, on one minor point.
If it's my property, I SHOULD be able to paint my house purple, or pink, or stripe it like a barber's pole! If the owner of the home that faces mine has a problem with it, because they 'have to look at it all day'...I'd gladly paint it to their liking. Provided they agreed to paint THEIR house, to mine.
Junk in the yard? A subjective thing as well- Gnomes, pink flamingoes, a '57 Chevy, an Italian fountain, a wind turbine...they could all qualify as junk. As long as it's not an outright threat to public safety- I say they should be allowed.
Those little, plastic ornamental fences have to go though. During one of our infamous windstorms, I was riding in a car that was attacked by a low-flying fence segment. They are a public menace!
Would you neighbours accept this, if he promised to stick fake tree branches into it- like the ones on the cellular towers you don't complain about?
I like renewable energy when it makes sense but this is a stretch at best. The system could become a hazard to others (being on a small residential lot) so there are liability issues, plus with an average wind speed below 10 MPH, it probably won't produce more than a few hundred dollars a year in electricity savings. Is it worth spoiling the neighbor's view and making them upset?
To stop-your-whining: LOL! that's the best post on here.
I love the way this guy, Kermit, says he has one on his ranch in Texas and no one complains about it. Pfft! probably no one sees it.
Kermit is just a tired old scrooge trying to push his agenda. Can't believe the Henderson City council is actually entertaining the idea. This is another good reason why I left Henderson.
We live in the "Valley of the Sun" where the sun shines daily - and very strong. So I don't understand why Mr. Waters wants to put up a bunch of poles to power a small WIND turbine vs. putting SOLAR Panels on his roof.
Somehow, I think the laws of physics apply here. Such as: the FASTER the blades turn (or the BIGGER the blades are) the more wind the blades can "collect/use" to turn - and thus, generate a usable level of electricity.
As for NOISE this Wind Turbine might make - vs. its size and electricity generating capacity - a small HOUSE FAN makes noise with its small blades even at slow speeds. the faster it goes (to cool better) the more noise it makes.
By comparison (generating revolutions vs. cooling effect), why would we believe that movement of air created by the FAN BLADES on this "45 foot" WIND TURBINE - would not produce a noticable and/or annoying level of noise?
SOLAR POWER is an effective and efficient alternative to wind power - which is palatable for use in residential neighborhoods. As mentioned earlier, we have been using SOLAR PANELS on roof-tops for many years now. They are flat (by design), and not normally visible from the street; provide a permanent, renewable, and sustainable source of electrical power - FROM THE SUN. They require little if any maintenance, and just sit there quietly and inconspicuously generating electricity.
Plus the power generated by Solar Panels can be stored for use on those few days when the sun does not shine. As an added cost-benefit, you can get an energy TAX REBATE worth a few thousand dollars (depending on a cost-ratio), AND you can SELL your excess power back to the Electric Company.
All these features are what I thought made SOLAR POWER the "renewable energy" wave of the future; especially in SUNSHINE states like Nevada.
One last point. Real Estate values are important. As a former Realtor, (and as anyone else knows who has bought or sold a home), location, comps, price, and curb-appeal (among others) are what moves real estate sales.
Everyone wants to build equity in their homes (which the current debacle has destroyed). Nice lawns, desert landscaping, etc., are often a requirement in any community with an HOA - but are also part of non-HOA communities. Why? To promote the appearance of a quality neighborhood that people feel good living in, and that can appreciate home value. A 45 foot wind turbine is a unique (to say the least) structure akin to an oil rig. Look at any oil field and visualize similar structures in yards all over the place.
This WInd Turbine could set a precedent - open the door - for other similar home-value and environmental issues that will adversely impact the quality of life for homeowners.
Ahhhhhhh... the silent 'WHOMP-WHOMP-WHOMP' of the fan at 3AM in the morning. Who's kidding who...the fan blades do make noise.