The Granville Village Council voted Wednesday night time to approve an amended ordinance to control the set up of photo voltaic panels on properties and different buildings within the village, in addition to on land in yards and open areas.
Photo voltaic panels have grow to be common in Granville as an economical supply of vitality that’s environmentally pleasant. One concern, and one motive for the rules, is tips on how to deal with the aesthetics of photo voltaic panels in a village stuffed with historic constructions that date again to a time earlier than electrical energy.
The brand new rules handle that concern in addition to guarantee their placement meets hearth and constructing codes. Residents who raised issues that resulted within the council scrapping the primary draft for additional work in August say they’re pleased with the brand new model.
“I believe we felt heard, and despite the fact that we began with completely different views on the draft ordinance, there was civil discourse all the best way to work by way of some compromises,” mentioned Carol Apacki, who lives along with her husband, Ken, at The Village Roots, a comparatively new, green-themed subdivision on West Broadway.
Jeremy King, a Granville resident and director of sustainability and campus enchancment at Denison College, mentioned the council exceeded his expectations in some areas. For instance, he mentioned, the council included a separate part within the ordinance for Neighborhood Photo voltaic Vitality Techniques, which might be useful for Denison and Granville Faculties.
For rooftop functions, photo voltaic arrays are permitted in the event that they adjust to present zoning and constructing rules. For land functions, residents should observe sure customary guidelines to keep up the historic traits of buildings in Granville. It prohibits the set up of ground-mounted photo voltaic arrays within the entrance yards of the village core. To be put in in a aspect yard, photo voltaic panels should be administratively inspected.
The ordinance permitted by the council was created with enter from the group. Village planners and the council consulted with Granville residents, and Denison College and Granville Faculties officers and college students. The council additionally employed a photo voltaic sustainability skilled from Energy A Clear Future Ohio, John Paul, who researched photo voltaic code fashions from midwestern cities of comparable dimension and character.
“He gave us a variety of concepts that we included into our greatest practices,” mentioned Granville Village Council Member Laura Mickelson. “It isn’t simply that we all of a sudden went from right here to right here. It is a huge course of.”
The brand new ordinance addresses the 2 primary issues photo voltaic advocates raised concerning the unique ordinance.
The unique model included obscure language about regulating glare from the floor of the panels, which critics mentioned was subjective and troublesome to measure. Further language might make it unattainable to put in panels in single-story homes and different single-story buildings, together with college and school buildings.
The sentence stating that photo voltaic panels don’t trigger glare was faraway from the ultimate ordinance. The identical is true of single-story homes and different buildings.
The ordinance permitted by the council states that “it’s within the public curiosity to encourage Photo voltaic Vitality Techniques which have a constructive influence on vitality conservation, with restricted damaging influence on the group. Whereas the Village of Granville finds that elevated use of Photo voltaic Vitality Techniques is a vital a part of group sustainability, cheap restrictions that defend the well being, security, and welfare of the general public; protect the enjoyment of personal property; promote the orderly use of land; and preserve of property values and historic aesthetics are essential to harmonize the pursuits of all residents of the Barangay.”
Photo voltaic techniques constructed or put in earlier than the efficient date of the brand new rules might be grandfathered and do not need to fulfill the necessities of this code – “except any bodily situation or change -or renders the system unrepairable or unusable.” If any present photo voltaic system is broken or destroyed, past restore and eliminated or changed, the removing and any new system would require an utility and overview by the village planning workplace underneath the brand new regulation.
The identical is true for increasing the prevailing photo voltaic system. The enlargement should be reviewed, however village officers can waive the related charges if the enlargement happens inside 4 years of the unique set up.
Renovation of an present system beforehand permitted underneath the brand new rules is not going to require a further utility. And the rules don’t apply to standalone techniques for small accent lighting, air flow, or battery storage techniques, whether or not on the roof or floor. “In such case, the cumulative space of the standalone system shall not exceed two sq. ft.”
Submitting an utility for a zoning allow for photo voltaic panels carries a price of $100, and in reviewing the applying for approval, the planning and improvement director or that particular person’s designee will take into account the next elements:
- It features a narrative description of the proposed system, together with the quantity, producer, and mannequin of the photo voltaic panels to be put in, and an outline of the ancillary techniques.
- A website plan, to scale, of the property exhibiting the proposed location of the photo voltaic panels in relation to property traces and buildings on the property.
- An outline of emergency and regular shutdown procedures and site of {the electrical} disconnection change.
The ordinance states that roof-mounted techniques are permitted in all zoning districts, supplied the techniques adjust to all different necessities of zoning and constructing rules, topic to the next restrictions:
- Pitched roof-mounted arrays needs to be parallel to the roof. The gap between the roof and the very best a part of the photo voltaic panels shouldn’t exceed 12 inches.
- They need to meet hearth and constructing security codes.
- Panels on a flat roof can not mission vertically greater than two ft from the highest of the roof and should be buffered in a sensible method in order that they don’t seem to be seen from public streets or adjoining properties.
There are further necessities for photo voltaic panels proposed for properties within the village’s historic district, referred to as the Architectural Overview Overlay District:
- Photo voltaic panels should be “put in in a way that doesn’t deface or obscure the character-defining options of a historic useful resource. Photo voltaic panels should be situated in order to not alter a historic line of roof or not see the connection of a historic roof to options that outline character. similar to dormers and chimneys.”
- The set up should be reversible and never detrimental to the historic integrity of any construction.
- Set up should be on a rear roof going through a primary construction, or an adjunct construction and never readily seen from the right-of-way, in a rear yard location that’s not simply accessible seen from the general public right-of-way, or on a aspect going through the aspect roof of any construction not readily seen from the right-of-way.
Pol Le writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit information group of the Denison College Journalism Program, supported partly by a grant from the Mellon Basis.
