Agenda - Planning Commission - 12/02/2010

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S I( TH E AUTHOR JOIN. US ONtINE! o online during the month of November to participate in our Ask the Author"forum, an interactive feature of Zoning Prac ice. Brian Ross and Suzanne Sutro Rhees, Au[r, will be available o answer questions about this article. Go to the APA website •twww.planning.org and follow the links to the Ask the Author ection. From there, just submit your questions about the ar icle using the e-mail link. The outhors will reply, and Zoning ' ractice will post the answers curnulativelyon the website for he.benefit of all subscribers. This feature will be available for elected issues of Zoning Practice at announced times. After ach'online discussion is closed, the answers will be saved in n online archive available through the APA Zoning Practice eb pages. The Solar Cities program, however, sets a goal of getting ahead of potential barriers to solar installations. Even with a slow ramp -up of installations, both cities have discovered that their development review process does not provide clear direction or standards to address sofa. installations. With several new solar incentive programs coming online in 2010 (both the utility and the state are offering substantial rebates for solar invest- ments), the stage is set for a potentially large increase in the number of installations. In both cities, the zoning codes' si- lence (or limited guidance) on how solar installations should or would be handled in regard to height and coverage limits, regula- tions on primary and accessory land uses, and visual and safety impacts on- and off - site had already raised issues of interpreting differing policy and regulatory goats. While a few solar installations can be handled on a case -by -case basis, hundreds of solar installations would require more specific guidance for regulatory staff, solar install- ers, and city residents and businesses. New solar systems could come in a variety of sizes and configurations, from small residential systems to acres of rooftop on institutional and industrial buildings, from building -mounted systems to pole and ground -mount systems. The systems could be installed in commercial, industrial, and residential zoning districts. Solar systems would likely be proposed for downtown buildings, within residential and commer- cial areas, in historic districts and areas covered by special design standards, and in the Mississippi River overlay district that runs through both cities. About the Authors Brian. Ross is a principal at CR Planning, Inc.,' and has served as the Minneapolis St. Paul SolarCity -Coordf nator,for the last two.years. He has workedinland-use. and energy policy for byes tWodecades;assisting to cal governments, state agencies, and ,'consumer and environmental ad- vocates. Ross was the primary author of Minnesota's model ordinances, for sustainable development (From Policy to"Reality) and was amajor - contributorto Minnesota'sguidebook on sustainable comprehensive planning, tinder Construction. Suzanne Sutro Rhees, AICP, is a principal planner with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources as well as a freelance writer and zoning consultant. She worked with Brian Ross on the survey of Solar.. merica cities ard-tvs a contributorto Minnesota's model ordinances A for sustainable development: To shed some light on these issues for the cities' regulatory offices, the Minneapo- fis—St. Paul Solar Cities program undertook a survey of the 24 other cities in the Solar America Cities program that were at various stages in the development of solar energy. Some were seeing hundreds of installations and measuring total solar capacity in mega- watts (MW) of production; others were similar to Minneapolis and St. Paul in seeing the first kilowatts Qckilowatts OM of solar capacity installed. SURVEY METHOD We contacted Solar City coordinators and city staff people listed as contacts though the Solar America City website (www. solaramericacities.energy.gov), e-mailed questions, and conducted e-mail and telephone follow-up. We conducted online searches of zoning ordinances and develop- ment regulations, looking for any mention of solar energy. In addition, we gathered information from DOE and the national energy labs (Sandia National Lab, National Renewable Energy Lab) and conducted ad hoc reviews of solar land -use conflicts in communities that were not participating in the Solar America Cities program. The amount information available on city websites regarding solar and energy assistance programs varies widely. Some provide resources such as fact sheets and QQ This accessory use pole -mounted tracking slYl�W Tl dl I commercial lot is at the edge of a residential neighborhood.:' ZONINGPRACTICE v.vo AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIAnONIGoge) 9