The City of Issaquah is on the verge of adopting provisions for alternative energy sources into its municipal code, including permitting wind turbines on non-residential land, and allowing solar panels to be exempt from building height restrictions.

At a meeting of the Council Land Use Committee on Tuesday night, city planning staff presented to the councillors their revisions of the Land Use Code amendments that will provide a solid framework for the use of alternative energy structures in new and existing development.

The alternative energy amendments have had some history with the council, having first appeared before them in April of this year.

According to Planning Manager Trish Heinonen, the councillors were eager to study the issue further, being that this was the first look they had had at the incorporation of alternative energy technology into the code.

“One of their worries was about the safety of wind turbines,” she said. “They wanted to know that the blades weren’t going to go flying off, and that sort of thing.”

Heinonen said that the response from the council on Tuesday night was positive, and they were now expected to vote on the amendments later in June.

The amended code would allow for the installation of wind turbines on non-residential land.

However, it was not likely that the residents of Issaquah would see these built anytime soon, if at all, said Heinonen.

“There is just not that much wind in Issaquah,” she said. “The studies that have been done show that wind turbines would not make much economic sense here, they just wouldn’t generate the power. But we felt it was important that if a school, for example, or the city, wanted to put together a wind turbine demonstration project in the future, there should be a provision for that.”

The amendments, if accepted, will also allow solar panel systems and “geothermal” heat pump-type systems in all zoning districts.

Solar panels would also receive an exception from height limit restrictions.

“In Issaquah we do have good opportunities for solar panelling,” Heinonen said. “I believe there are some houses using solar panels in the highlands, but there aren’t any in Issaquah, as far as I am aware. I hope to see more.”

The planning manager said that the role of her department was to take the environmental science and technology and figure how to make that work in the city.

At the moment, applications to install alternative energy technology are handled on a case by case basis, with little or no guidelines for homeowners.

One of the concerns of the council was the need to address the aesthetics of solar panels, and they suggested that screening, similar to that used to ‘camouflage’ air-conditioning units be made a requirement of the code.

Under the revision, no determination would be made as to whether solar panels would heat water for heating purposes or generate electrical power. Panels under 6 square feet in size would be exempt under the definition to allow for solar-powered driveway lights, parking meters, and lighted

signs.

Further out on the cutting edge of alternative energy, geothermal systems, or ‘ground-source heat pumps’ are a rarity on the Eastside.

Heinonen said she believed that a number of the geothermal systems had been approved for houses in highlands.

These systems capture the relative heat, or cool temperature, from a few feet below the surface of the ground.

An alcohol based liquid inside a pipe beneath the ground absorbs the temperature and is transferred by air vents into the property.

Though this description probably does not do it justice, the technique is reputedly very effective.

A number of homes in the South Cove neighborhood, north of Interstate 90, currently utilize geothermal systems, with pipes running into the waters of Lake Sammamish.

Heinonen said that the amended code would prohibit the use of geothermal systems in Issaquah Creek.

Installation of any power-generating system, such as solar or wind, would require an applicant to acquire the appropriate permits and also the approval of Puget Sound Energy.