By Forrest Adams

A Chanhassen family was disappointed earlier this summer when they found out the residential wind turbine they wanted to put in their backyard was forbidden by city code.

Nancy and Larry Stein said they were ready to install the 30-foot tower with a 12-foot diameter blade right smack in the middle of their backyard until they ran into a blockade- the city code.

The city’s zoning ordinance regarding wind turbines, known in city language as ‘wind energy conversion systems,’ only allows them on yards zoned agricultural and at least two acres in size. The Steins, and their two teenage kids, live on less than one acre in a residential neighborhood.

Larry Stein claims he talked to Mayor Tom Furlong about it earlier in the summer and went away from the conversation discouraged about the prospects of them ever putting the wind turbine in their yard. Furlong, for his part, said he recalls talking to somebody about the subject several weeks or months ago, but he doesn’t recall the specific language that was used.

During a telephone interview, he said there's a public process for people to go through if they want to change zoning ordinances, as would be required for the Steins to put a wind turbine in their backyard. It begins in the city’s planning commission, which deals with matters involving zoning ordinances. If the planning commission were to approve such a change, it would recommend that the city council approve it also. The city council would then look at the issue and the suggested change and discusses it at a future council meeting, where they would approve or deny it.

“There are specific criteria that need to be met,” Furlong said.
Community Development Director Kate Aanenson, who oversees the planning commission, said this particular ordinance was adopted in 1986. Although it allows wind turbines, according to the language of the ordinance, she said none have been erected. One time the city applied for a grant to install one at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, but when they didn’t get the grant, the idea was no longer pursued, Aanenson added.

Mr. Stein said his reasons for wanting a wind turbine are two-fold.
One is to save money on his energy bills. Although having a residential wind turbine installed has a high up-front cost, Stein guesses he’d be able to recoup that within about five years through the money he’d save by using more wind energy in place of traditional sources. Stein guesses that after taking advantage of tax credits and rebates the unit would cost his family about $5,000.
His second reason is for the sake of the environment.

“Some of us have got to start taking leadership and moving the ball forward toward using more alternative energy sources,” said the U.S. Postal Service employee during a telephone interview on Monday.

Rick Miller, the founder of Energy Remodeling and Consulting, LLC, who did the energy analysis at the Stein’s home to determine how much traditional energy they could save by adding solar or wind-energy at their home, said the unit could cost around $15,000 without using any alternative-energy incentives from the state and federal government or from energy companies. He installed his first solar system in a home in Eden Prairie last Friday and said one way or another, alternative energy will be more common in the future. For more information on his company, go to www.mnsolarwind.com.

Readers can contact Forrest Adams at fadams@swpub.com.