To ThePerryNews.com:
I am writing in regards to the Perry City Council meeting that was held on Feb. 17, 2015. Most of the discussion held during open forum was about the use of vacant land at Willis Avenue here in Perry for low-income housing. I was listening with great interest to the remarks of the Mayor and council members about the fact that the City Council has no business impeding property rights for private landowners. Now the City Council is considering doing a study, which can legally accomplish this very thing. More than one member of this Council has publically stated that they understand private property rights. Really? Another council member stated that “we are our own worst enemy,, and I could not agree more.
The Council seems to be more concerned that blighted areas are a black eye for the City, but apparently unconcerned about the loss of property values and problems associated with industrial-size wind turbines going up just south of town. At the meeting the Council also discussed its concerns about potentially discriminating against protected classes of people. This discussion seemed ironic given the Council’s past actions of attempting to maximize the economic benefit to a few landowners while penalizing others with the Council’s poor land use choices for objectionable industrial wind towers. This is also discrimination, just in a different form.
They wanted to know the best and worst housing places in the city of Perry. There was talk about slum areas in the town and the need for low-income housing, along with other types of housing. According to the Mayor, it is a dangerous precedent to override the zoning board. I think he meant to say it was politically dangerous to override the zoning board’s decisions, regardless of the outcome.
My question is why didn’t the zoning board listen to any of the landowners along K Avenue when we vociferously protested the granting of Conditional Use Permits to Marshall Wind to build industrial-size wind turbines just south of Perry along K Avenue?
These structures will be 447 feet tall or more, three of them for now and who’s to say that won’t just be a good start once that genie is out of the bottle?
Apparently the Council is so afraid and dominated by the Zoning Board of Adjustment they are unwilling to protect the value of the majority of private property owners’ rights at all! We all elected the members of the Council, not the Zoning Board of Adjustment, who are appointed. Who is really in charge of development in the City?
One landowner does not have the right to negatively affect the rights of another landowner to enjoy their property. They do not have the right to inflict property devaluation, noise, ice throw, infrasound, shadow flicker and all the other negative issues that come from installing these monstrous machines so close to a residential property. What happened to our rights to enjoy our land and not to infringe on anyone else’s enjoyment of their property? Not to mention the fact that this City decision will in essence condemn our property without just compensation in violation of the State and Federal Constitution if these turbines go up.
The Council is concerned about incentives to get people to move to Perry. Won’t these hideous turbines be a dis-incentive for people to move to this area? And the negative effects of these turbines won’t just be felt here south of town, since others farther away will be subject to the same problems.
The Mayor then chastised folks who work in Perry, but don’t live in Perry. He said and I quote, “Shame on you. If you draw a salary in this town, you should live here.” My question is “shame on whom”? It would seem to me that the leaders of this city are more concerned with providing low-income housing and getting tax incentives than they are protecting the property values and property rights of citizens that already live here, pay taxes, are good citizens and uphold the law.
Deanna Beougher
Perry
