WWNY TV 7
Jessica Shaw ~ reports
Story Published: Dec 13, 2010 at 5:15 PM EST
It's just a proposal from a committee, but it could be enough to stop a planned wind farm dead in its tracks.
Iberdrola Renewables is looking at the town of Hammond in St. Lawrence County as a place to locate a wind farm.
However, Iberdrola doesn't like a new idea being floated by the town's wind committee.
The group is proposing that Iberdrola compensate property owners who see their land values decrease because of the wind farm.
The proposal would also make the developer buy property from a land owner who doesn't like living near the farm.
"This particular proposal is unworkable for any type of development and we are and were willing to work with this committee to find a way to comfort these land owners. Forcing any developer to purchase at an as yet undetermined price, every property owned by a land owner who might want to sell would destroy the economics of any commercial project," said Jan Johnson, spokesperson for Iberdrola.
The developers have sent a letter to Hammond officials saying there's proof their turbines would have no negative effect on land values and if this proposal goes through, the wind project in Hammond would be scrapped.
"I've heard both side of the story - property values don't decrease. I've heard they could. I think something should be in place to protect people if they are affected," said Hammond Town Supervisor Ronald Bertram.
However, Bertram said he's just not sure if this proposal is the right one.
He said the property value proposal still needs to go before the Hammond Town Board, but that probably won't happen until January.
Meanwhile, Iberdrola officials say they're not against having a law to protect land value, they just think this particular one is "unworkable".
No comments:
Post a Comment