(Archived Article) Nimby Rears Its Head Against Wind Power Project

For those not familiar with the acronym, NIMBY stands for Not In My Back Yard.  When I was a young engineer reviewing permit applications for sanitary landfills, I became very familiar with the NIMBY phenomenon.  Anytime anyone proposed a sanitary landfill for a particular location, you could just count on opposition from the neighbors.

But I later learned it wasn't just landfills.  Neighbors will oppose proposed airports, shopping malls, homes for unwed mothers, you name it.

The following excerpts were taken from an article published by the New York Times on or about November 13, 2010.  It describes how a San Francisco resident who wanted to put up a wind turbine learned the meaning of NIMBY.

The New York Times

Nimby Rears Its Head Against Wind Power Project

By JOHN UPTON

When Nathan Miller decided that he wanted to generate renewable electricity to power his family’s home in San Francisco’s Miraloma Park neighborhood, he pursued an unusual path. Mr. Miller crunched some numbers and decided to shun solar power, the most common residential alternative-energy choice in San Francisco.

Mr. Miller’s household consumes most of its electricity in the afternoons and evenings, when the family is at home, but solar energy is strongest in the middle of the day.

So Mr. Miller, whose home is in the foggy, breezy saddle between Twin Peaks and Mount Davidson, decided to opt for wind.

He planned to install a Skystream wind turbine in his front yard at a cost of $7,500, lowered from $20,000 after government subsidies for alternative energy.

But the path to Mr. Miller’s dream of energy self-sufficiency took a turbulent turn after he filed the required permit application with the city’s building department.

Acting on the advice of a city planner, Mr. Miller capped the windmill at 35 feet, the height limit for buildings in his low-density neighborhood.

Mr. Miller’s neighbors caught wind of his plans through public notices.

Mr. Lawhon was not alone in his objections.

The board of the Miraloma Park Improvement Club, a neighborhood group, voted unanimously to file an appeal seeking rejection of Mr. Miller’s permit application.

In various documents, the club outlined a dizzying list of objections: The wind turbine would be ugly and noisy and create light pollution; it would distract drivers and kill birds; it would be ineffective; it could topple.

Mr. Miller now has to persuade the planning commission to dismiss the pleas of his neighbors.

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