Nevada high court affirms order blocking wind turbine

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court decision blocking a man from building a power-generating wind turbine on his residential property.

The court ruled Thursday that the turbine sought by Rick Sowers in Washoe Valley just south of Reno can be banned as a nuisance.

The Nevada Appeal reported the court agreed the aesthetics of a turbine are not sufficient grounds to rule it as a nuisance.

But Justices Jim Hardesty, Kris Pickering and Nancy Saitta concluded a nuisance exists when the aesthetics are combined with other factors such as noise and a lowering of property values.

Ann and Karl Hall of the Forest Hills neighborhood sued to block construction, saying the turbine would obstruct their views and create constant noise and shadow flicker.