Minnesota Man Arrested, Sentenced to 6-Months in Jail for Having a Windmill On His Property

The free thought project ^ | October 3, 2015 | By John Vibes

[HiTech RedNeck]

Ah yes, the vengeance approach. That fellow could make things REAL miserable for the neighbors in any manner of legal ways.

[HiTech RedNeck]

And the “damage” lasted until when... the wind turbine was removed? What point is there in pushing a technicality except to stir up a real big hornets nest. Sometimes some people never learn when to let go.

[Mad Dawgg]

Locally in town we are not allowed the type of windmill and battery system I wanted to try on my building. Apparently years back AEP was concerned that there could be a fire hazard because this type system is hooked directly into my electrical system and if it produces more electricity than you are using AEP would owe you money. So the local government type asswipes passed an ordinance that has nothing to do with electrical concerns BUT states that the spinning vertical blades would be a danger to people on the sidewalk. Mine would have been forty plus feet in the air (mounted on top of my building)

Thank goodness AEP is looking out for me.

[frog in a pot]

And the “damage” lasted until when... the wind turbine was removed?

You answered your own question, at least as it would pertain to neighbors (noise and strobing lights).

What point is there in pushing a technicality...?

The city argues the prohibited "structure" (concrete foundation, anchor bolts, etc.) has not been removed. The city engineers have no doubt pointed out that removal of that added structure poses no danger to the integrity of the earlier existing house. If the guy or his contractor had placed the structure within the sideset due to some good faith error the city might have issued a variance for the foundation. But instead, he has acted throughout as though the city has no authority over the matter. Bad move.

It has been fun, have a nice evening.

[JimRed]

Neighbors complained about strobing effects.

So, paint it a non-reflective flat color,

[HiTech RedNeck]

And you know jolly well you have a losing case in the end... that’s why you are going.

Nobody’s bothered any more with the turbine, it is long gone, yet the people are insisting on sticking it to the fellow.

The people are going to get what they earned by doing that, methinks.

[HiTech RedNeck]

That might have meant for sunlight passing through the blades, but at any rate it’s gone and nobody has any quantifiable suffering remaining from it. So should be gone any sensible opposition to the fellow, but again some people just do not know when to stop for their own good.

By the way, sunlight also flickers through trees whose leaves are moved by the wind. Was there any comparison attempted, even for the sake of that transient problem?

[minnesota_bound]

If I owned a home on Minnetonka (expensive place on the shore) I would be mad as can be if someone put up a noisemaker. I had neighbors with wind chimes making noise 24/7 when I lived in Golden Valley (about 15 miles from that lake). I hate wind chimes!

[SgtHooper]

Those “most people” do not read the article to fully understand this dude created a nuisance. It’d be like living next to a barking dog.

[Rodamala]

If it is an unsightliness issue, then he could build cellar doors or storage cubicles on the pads.

Perfect place for a couple quad 50 calibre AA gun emplacements... pointing down the driveway.