The DeKalb Citizen's Environmental Commission met Wednesday evening to discuss the possibility of such an ordinance, which would regulate size, design, noise levels and other components of wind turbines that residents and businesses would want to install within city limits.

Members will continue revising the draft ordinance before sending it to either the city's plan commission, a recommending body, or the city council, which could give direction or enact such a policy.

It would be months before either action is taken.

"This is something very, very preliminary," said Jennifer Diedrich, the city's special projects coordinator.

Currently, city code works on a case-by-case basis: Interested parties would have to be granted a special-use permit to erect an energy converter like a wind turbine, she said.

The ordinance would create a permit specifically for wind energy conversion systems, or WECS.

Commission chairman Bill Finucane felt that the ordinance needs to lay out fees and penalties for permit holders.

"You don't want to have a lot of fees in something like this; you want to encourage it. But it takes money to administer something like this," he said.

Commissioner Sharon Skala recommended bringing legal counsel into the discussion, and DeKalb Park District Executive Director Cindy Capek, a liaison to the commission, was concerned with creating a blanket ordinance, one that would allow WECS in all zoning districts.

Some neighborhoods may not be suited for WECS, she said.

Commissioners agreed to invite both the city attorney and city planner to their September meeting to further work on the draft.

Several factors contributed to this initial discussion.

The environmental commission hosted an educational forum on wind energy in February, where commissioner Dan Kenney learned that DeKalb lacked an ordinance specific to wind energy. So, he began researching other municipalities, drafting a patchwork ordinance from his findings.

The forum was held at the same time a large wind farm was seeking ground in agriculturally-zoned areas in southwestern DeKalb County, which last month was approved overwhelmingly by the county board.

Also, DeKalb city staff recently attended a multi-county conference on wind energy, where they learned how other municipalities are tackling energy policy.

"A lot of communities are in the same boat we're in - they don't regulate wind or solar energy," Diedrich said of the conference. "Basically, everyone is scrambling to put something together because as equipment becomes available, businesses and residents are going to want to install them."