Myrick v. Peck Electric Company

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Consolidated cases required the Vermont Supreme Court to revisit whether Vermont law recognized a cause of action for private nuisance based solely on aesthetic considerations. Appellants, a group of landowners from New Haven, appealed when the trial court granted summary judgment to defendants, two solar energy companies. The landowners filed suit after their neighbors leased property to the solar companies for the purpose of constructing commercial solar arrays. According to the landowners, the solar arrays constituted a private nuisance because they negatively affected the surrounding area's rural aesthetic, causing properties in their vicinity to lose value. The trial court consolidated the cases and, noting that the Vermont Supreme Court's precedent in "Hager" barred nuisance actions based purely on aesthetics, and granted summary judgment to the solar companies. The Supreme Court upheld Vermont's long-standing rule barring private nuisance actions based upon aesthetic disapproval alone. View "Myrick v. Peck Electric Company" on Justia Law