Wind Farm Menu Page

   Life in a Wind Farm: Good or Bad?
It Depends on:    1) Adequate "setbacks"
                                 2) Fair compensation, &
                                3) An open, public process

Photo Credit: Betterplan.squarespace.com

PLEASE NOTE: Our group is NOT against Wind Energy--in fact, we're for it, as long as it is implemented in a way that is safe, fair, and open to public participation.

Current Status of Wind Farm Development
in Adams County

* Two major wind farm developments are already poised to be built in Adams County. One is around Mendon, and the other around Camp Point and Golden and Clayton. No precise maps have been made available to the public at this time. For the past two years, company representatives have secured many binding contracts with individual farmers to erect wind towers (up to 550 feet tall) on their property. The cumulative effect of these individual deals is to superimpose a "wind farm" of approximately 100 such towers (only 17 are pictured above) over everyone's homes/property in each multiple square mile area.

* The County Board passed an ordinance on January 12, 2010 laying out lenient requirements that a company like Acciona (a wind developer from Spain) must meet to get Adams County Board approval to build their wind farm here.

* Once the company applies, their application can be approved 21 days later by the Adams County Board (with no public notice or debate). The permit becomes effective immediately.

* All of this has occurred without any public participation, notification, or involvement in the decision-making process, including such questions as what area or areas of our county do we want to cover with many square miles of wind turbines, what setback distances are safe, or what compensation will be offered to those whose real estate values are negatively affected.

The Adams County Wind Ordinance:

1. Allows wind turbines to be placed only 1000 feet from a home or school. This distance, known as a "setback," is far less than scientifically recommended distances. Because of health risks, most respected experts believe this "setback" must be at least a half mile (2640 feet) to be safe. See the evidence on this website in "Safety & Health."

2. Provides no protection or compensation for the many people whose land values will go down. See expert testimony on this website.

3. Provides no public input or notification in the process of developing these wind farms or identifying turbine placements.

This ordinance still has not been posted on the Adams County Board website, published, or distributed to the public, even though it already passed on January 12, 2010. Our copy was obtained by special request.
Read the ordinance here for yourself.

Amend the Adams County Wind Ordinance

Our group of concerned citizens believes the Adams County Wind Ordinance must be amended if we are to be safe, fair, and open with wind energy in our county.

Once the towers are built, it is too late to form an opinion about how far they should be placed from anyone's home, or complain about not getting compensated if you cannot sell your home, or wish you could have been part of the decision-making process. We are only asking everyone to consider these issues carefully now, before the towers are already built.

Read Our Letter to the Adams County Board (coming soon)
Read their Reply (Not Yet Received)

Please click on any of the following to learn more:

Negative Health Effects

Loss of Real Estate Value

Flicker, Noise, and Other Issues

Three Critical Amendments to the Adams County Wind Ordinance

What You Can Do

Letters & Replies

Wind turbines located near homes can negatively affect the value of that real estate. To be fair, shouldn't the wind developer compensate those landowners for their loss?

Please think about the future of our beautiful county. For the next few weeks,
you might still have a chance to shape how it will look for decades to come.

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