Rules governing the heights of structures in Oak Harbor may soon change, paving the way for projects like a new windmill and the angel sculpture.

Last week, the Oak Harbor City Council discussed a proposed text amendment that would require structures over 35 feet to undergo a process to determine if they are artistically or culturally significant before they are installed in the city. There appears to be a need in the community for a new process due to the desire to have large-scale cultural and artistic structures, city officials said.

“It’s important to have a consistent process that provides open and equal opportunity to consider these structures,” Principal Planner Cac Kamak said.

Height limits exist already for roof structures and flagpoles, but the existing process does not take into account artistic and cultural structures.

Kamak said one option is to include text that attempts to define what cultural and artistic structures are, but this can be interpreted differently over time and “can lead to unintentional consequences,” he said. Instead, he recommended using a method in which the city council determines first if something is an artistic or cultural structure. This process could include various forms of public input. If it is decided that the structure in question is artistic or cultural, the project proponents would complete a land use application that’s location specific.

“Because of the subjective matter of these structures, you want to have a community-wide decision,” Kamak said.

The process could involve a resolution or a professional services agreement.

“I think the idea is to very narrowly target these structures in parks and on public properties,” Kamak said.

Under the proposal, the structures would also be required to be a certain distance, such as 30 feet away, from private property.

Kamak said the council can establish the process of approving an art piece. For example, art could go through the Arts Commission, then to the city council. If it’s not an art piece but it’s cultural, it could go through the council first.

Mayor Pro Tem Beth Munns asked about the 37-foot Angel de la Creatividad, which is set to go in Windjammer Park.

“The existing code language was interpreted to accommodate them,” Kamak said of the sculpture. “Now that we’re seeing a few more pieces come, we’re just trying to streamline it because the existing process was not exactly built for this.”

The proposed text amendment would only apply to structures and other artwork that are above the height limit of 35 feet.

A committee of residents are currently working to raise money for a new windmill to replace the one that was torn down in Windjammer Park. The proposed structure would likely exceed the 35-foot limit.