Thanks, Chad, for the interesting thread.
I certainly hear about this issue a lot with respect to stormwater infrastructure, particularly with respect to native vegetation and water quality ponds.
Native vegetation tends to have a more "wild" or "unkept" appearance that some residents dislike in lieu of a well-manicured lawn. But there are many benefits that native species bring with respect to resiliency and habitat restoration, particularly in urban settings.
As for ponds, they are often marketed as "natural" water features to adjacent homeowners who later discover that these ponds are
designed to fill up with nutrients, often resulting in duckweed, algae, odors, and other typical characteristics of eutrophic systems.
I, personally, find wind turbines to be very visually appealing, but maybe that's just me. I think a big part of the issue is making sure that stakeholders understand how these systems work and why they matter (perhaps what they contribute to the local economy/ecosystem), but then again there will always be differing opinions and pushback.
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Vinicius Taguchi S.M.ASCE
Ph.D. Student
Minneapolis MN
taguc006@...------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 12-18-2018 09:09
From: Chad Morrison
Subject: NIMBY - There Goes the Neighborhood
Cranston residents outraged over Johnston wind turbine project
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Cranston residents outraged over Johnston wind turbine project |
It's a project in Johnston that some Cranston residents aren't happy about. Several wind turbines now tower over an area near the landfill and a section of homes in Western Cranston, including Alpine Estates. |
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RI is dealing with an uncertain energy future. A proposed natural gas plant in the forest has been stuck in red tape, only for another to be proposed within an urban neighborhood. Wind turbines are being built on the landfill (hooray!), but are now visible form a nearby neighborhood. The landfill and turbines are in Johnston and the neighborhood is in Cranston.
So NIMBY typically follows concerns about noise/light/air/water pollution. With clean energy, we have a new question of "is it an eyesore to its surroundings?" Perhaps beauty is in the eye of the beholder... how do we define an eyesore? Unfortunately, I believe it will be defined in an economic way... the home values in this neighborhood will likely decrease... so that is a measurable impact of eyesore. What is the responsibility of the homeowner to stay informed? What is the city's responsibility to notify homeowners of neighboring developments? The residents outrage at the council meeting is happening after construction... it's too late.
As we are engineers and not architects and typically find such structures fascinating, how do we address and quantify the "looks" of our project in within a given environment?
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Chad Morrison P.E., M.ASCE
Professional Engineer
Greenville RI
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