Wind Turbines in Ankeny?

But, they cannot do so under current building guidelines within the city and have requested a variance for a 130' tower from the board of adjustment. The purpose of the intent ordinance was to put some guidelines in front of the board of adjustment to use in their consideration. This sounds reasonable but there has been no discussion between planning and zoning and the council, the business community or citizens as to the impact of turbines within the city limits. Here are the guidelines as proposed:

residential or commercial lots of 3-5 acres: one 65' tower allowed
residential or commercial lots of 5-40 acres: 85' towers allowed
residential or commercial lots of 40-100 acres: 100' towers allowed
residential or commercial lots of 100+ acres: 140' towers allowed

Here's the issues that I would like to be discussed and addressed before adopting an ordinance:

neighbor friendly?
visual appeal?
noise? - whoosh factor
flicker? - the impact on neighbors as sunlight passes through 30' blades
true envirnmental impact? - there is debate as to whether small scale turbines are truly eco-friendly and that there may be far more cost-effective manners to reduce our carbon footprint.

At a minimum, I believe we need to have an open, candid discussion about this issue before passing an ordinance that opens the door to towers of all kinds in backyards across Ankeny. That has not happened yet and was the reason for my no vote last Monday.

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