Super Fresh Produce could be on its way to building a wind turbine on its property. Residential properties, however, are less likely to be granted the right.

Jim and Merlene Stiles, owners of Super Fresh Produce, are interested in putting up a wind turbine — but they can’t until the city passes an ordinance regulating their construction.

City officials are going forward with drafting an ordinance to lay out the guidelines of erecting wind turbines, not just for the Stiles, but to open the whole area to wind energy development.

“We want to promote this as much as we can,” Mayor Tom Stiehm said at a working session of the city council Monday.

Craig Hoium, community development director in the city, presented the first draft of the ordinance Monday at the session. The draft will be further reviewed and edited at next week’s meeting of the planning commission.

As the draft stands currently, residential properties within the city would not be able to erect wind turbines.

Commercial, industrial and agricultural zoned areas would be able to apply for permits to build.

“I don’t think it’s feasible to include those zoning districts,” Hoium said of residential areas.

Hoium explained that this is because few to zero residential properties would meet the requirements — regarding safety, noise, function and space.

Research shows wind turbines need to be placed at least 300 feet from any structures or trees that cause wind turbulence, or they need to be 30 feet taller than an object that causes turbulence, he said.

The base of the tower would also have to be set back from any property line by at least 1.1 times the entire turbine’s height, meaning a residential home would likely have to have an unusually large lot.

The minimum height of any turbine rotor would be 30 feet above the ground, according to the draft.

The draft does not permit roof-mountable, smaller turbines for residential areas because few homes or structures are designed to hold them, he said.

In addition, they are the noisiest type of turbine, he added.

The Stiles, whose business is in a light industrial zoned area, would be eligible for a conditional use permit to put up a small Wind Energy Conversion (WEC) system. A small WEC is one that is designed to supplement other electricity sources, and the power generated would be used primarily for on-site consumption. It would have a total capacity of 50 kilowatts.

The draft is very much subject to change before reaching the council for further consideration.

Councilmembers and one resident debated Monday whether the draft should be edited to include residential zoning areas because the technology is changing so quickly that this may eventually be practical.

Members suggested perhaps residences should instead be subject to requesting a permit and proving their property meets all necessary requirements.

The six-page draft details permit applications, regulations, design and nuisance concerns much further.