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Property Values What is there to say? 400 foot tall industrial installations can't be good for property values in an area. There are several properties in the area that are available for sale. Some of these have been on the market and can't be sold - even at a reduced price and the reason may be the potential for the Industrial Wind Power Plant. People don't want to by a house that is going to be near an industrial site. One person who was looking at homes in the area said that he wouldn't buy here because of the Wind Power Plant. Can you blame him? Any reduction in property values will erode the tax base for the town and that couldn't be good. Census data shows that since the last census, Western New York is losing population - this means that Western New York is losing tax base. Why create a reason for people to leave a region
where the population is already declining?
The area on the slope of the ridge line is prime residential land. There are many wooded lots with beautiful vistas over the lake plain, to the lake and over the lake to Canada. In short, these locations are very desirable. Now, add an industrial complex near this area, possibly damage or dry up the wells that provide drinking water to these homes (Please see the page on Water Quality for more information) and prime residential real estate has been rendered virtually worthless. Why would anybody want to live in a place that is in an industrial zone that has poor quality water? Can Westfield and Ripley afford to lose the property taxes associated with the choice homes? In Lincoln Township Wisconsin, the developer of the wind project was forced to buy out several homes near the turbine sites. These homes are now sitting empty and no taxes are being collected on them. If this were to happen here, there would be no taxes collected from some of the finest real estate in the towns - the homes on the side of the ridge. If Chautauqua Wind Power LLC is not around to fulfil their obligations, this pretty much leaves the towns with no money from the turbines and a reduced property tax base. Would you want an industrial site put up within a half mile of your home? Zoning The sites for the proposed turbines are all zoned either agricultural/residential. None of the sites is zoned for commercial or industrial use and make no mistake about it, what Chautauqua Wind Power LLC has proposed is an industrial installation. Zoning laws are for the protection of land owners as well as to retain the quality and characteristics of an area. If this industry is allowed to build in locations zoned agricultural/residential, where is the protection that was supposed to be afforded to ALL landowners by these rules. This can be the gateway to even more objectionable activities and the citizens will realize that. What do you think the town would say if we wanted
to put up |
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