HUMBOLDT - With the rapid development of wind energy in the country, the Humboldt City Council took the first step at regulating urban wind energy during Monday's city council meeting.

City Administrator Lorie Bennett said City Attorney Eric Eide had been meeting with the city's planning and zoning commission to propose an ordinance governing wind energy.

"We want to be at the forefront of this rather than being reactionary," Bennett said. There are no wind turbines within the city, but Bennett said two residential home owners and one business have inquired about the city's regulations on them.

"The technology and the price of energy is driving us to models that are suitable for home use," Eide told the council. "We are anticipating there will be a demand for these." Very few cities in the state have been able to get a handle on the matter because technology is changing so rapidly, he said.

The proposed ordinance limits the size of the turbines to 100 kilowatts to limit them for on-site use only. It also limits the heights of both ground-based and structure-based turbines, and their location. The turbines must be located in rear yards and within block boundaries. The ordinance also establishes fall zones and addresses such things as noise and shadows. Property owners will be required to obtain a special use permit and detailed reporting studies will be required, Eide said.

City Councilman Jim Vermeer said he was opposed to the ordinance.

"If I build a new house in town and 10 to 20 years later you are going to allow a wind turbine located next to my house, I don't want that next to my house," he said.

Vermeer said he was not opposed to wind energy and turbines are fine in the country but there is no place for them in residential areas.

The council approved the first reading of the ordinance with Vermeer casting the sole vote against.

In other business the council passed a number of resolutions pertaining to the issuing of $2.5 million in general obligation capital loan notes. The notes were approved by the council in the spring and will be used for a number of infrastructure projects around the city.

Contact Robert Wolf at (515) 573-2141 or editor@messengernews.net