Anticipating that residents may plan to increase their home’s energy efficiency, the city of Shawnee soon may have an updated ordinance regulating wind turbines.

The ordinance would update the city’s requirements for wind energy conversion systems, as several companies now are making smaller models for residential use, some of which can be mounted on a home’s roof.

Council members on the Public Works & Safety Committee discussed the ordinance last week. It will be discussed by the full Council next month.

Paul Chaffee, planning director, said the city’s current code addressed turbines but required a minimum five-acre lot size. He said the city also wanted to ensure homeowners couldn’t construct their own wind turbines, which may be both unattractive and unsafe.

Chaffee showed photos of several small systems available for homes, including propeller systems that resemble those used in wind farms and a “helix” design that resembles a windsock. He said the city, modeling the ordinance after regulations adopted in other communities and suggestions from the American Wind Energy Association, could not prohibit certain turbine designs, but homes associations could create their own limitations.

The new ordinance would allow one 10 kilowatt system to be placed on a residential or agricultural property, mounted either on the ground or on a roof. The overall height would be limited to 60 feet; a roof-mounted system could extend a maximum of 15 feet above the roof.

Special-use permits would allow taller systems on lots of two acres or more and multiple systems, though they could not exceed 100 kilowatts of cumulative energy production.

The ordinance also would require any Wind Energy Conversion System to be tested, certified and labeled by an approved third party to ensure compliance with national safety standards. It also would include requirements that a turbine had appropriate anchorage, connections and support structure foundations.

If a turbine is connected to a public utility system to supply excess energy created to the utility, the ordinance would require the homeowner to show a letter indicating the interconnection agreement is approved by the utility provider.

The ordinance also addresses a fall zone for ground-mounted systems, noise levels, lighting, blade clearance and requirements for commercial and industrial properties. It requires at least 120 acres of commercial or industrial zoned property for construction of a wind farm using large turbines.

The committee unanimously recommended the ordinance’s approval to the full Council.

-- Shawnee Dispatch