Hobokenites who are interested in exploring renewable energy options in their homes may soon have greater opportunities to go green. The City Council has introduced an ordinance that will streamline its current solar panel approval process.
“Solar panels have not been a permitted use in any of the zones in the city. So it made it really prohibitive for anybody to put solar panels on their roof. If [residents] were interested [in installing solar panels], they’d have to go through the zoning process,” said Brandy Forbes, director of the city’s Department of Community Development. “So what we wanted to do was have some regulations so that it’s something that’s acceptable to the municipality and addresses our concerns, but makes it a less cumbersome process to the average property owner in the city.”
The City Council hopes to hold a public hearing on the ordinance on Dec. 15.
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“The accessibility of getting solar panels is easier for property owners, the interest is there, and it has been for a while. It’s now something that’s attainable,” said Forbes. “We did have various residents and property owners coming in who had an interest [in installing solar panels]. But once they saw what the process was they recognized it was going to be far too difficult for them to tackle.”
At the same time, a number of green energy companies that work with home owners and businesses to install solar arrays also complained to the city about its labyrinth-like approval process.
Thus, an ordinance has been introduced to address both the concerns of emergency management services and the needs of property owners.
Fire dept. concerns
Theoretically solar arrays do not have to be placed on rooftops, and in suburban communities they are often installed in backyards. But with yard space practically nonexistent in many urban areas, including Hoboken, rooftops are usually the only real estate available to property owners to use if they want to go solar.
But rooftop solar panels can create problems for firefighters.
First, if they are too large they can prevent firefighters from gaining rooftop access using a ladder from the ground.
And there are other concerns, too. Solar panels obviously store energy and heat, which can complicate a fire emergency and create hazards for firefighters. When responding to a fire emergency firefighters need to know ahead of time whether a building has solar panels and, if so, how to deactivate them.
According to Forbes, Hoboken residents who sought Zoning Board approval for solar panels had to address these concerns, but often encountered a government bureaucracy that was neither streamlined nor straightforward.
“There’s never been anything consistent as to what are the concerns of the Fire Department, what are the concerns of the Building Office, and how do those [concerns] get addressed when the Zoning Board is reviewing the [resident’s] application,” she said. “So, it really made it cumbersome and expensive to even consider [installing panels].”
Ordinance language
Under the ordinance, which was introduced by the City Council on Nov. 3, the Fire Department’s concerns are addressed and, according to Forbes the approval process is reorganized so that residents who are interested in renewable energy can do so with greater ease.
If passed by the council, the new law – which would be an amendment to the city’s existing zoning ordinance – would standardize the approval process.
According to the language of the ordinance, any rooftop that can be accessed by a ladder from the street can only have solar panels if the arrays are setback at least 10 feet from the roof’s edge. In addition, the ordinance states that the Fire Department will be guaranteed “a clear area of passage, front to back, and around any egress openings or access points.”
The ordinance also requires buildings with panels to have clear signs alerting firefighters of their presence and how they can be deactivated.
Although ground mounted solar arrays are unlikely in Hoboken, given the lack of available land space, the ordinance does include some language regulating them as well. For example, ground mounted panels that are taller than six feet must be set back from property lot lines by at least two feet for each additional foot in height, according to the ordinance.
The law also addresses the special needs of the city’s historical district.
“The hope is that this will allow us to move forward and be a more sustainable community by allowing people to more readily put solar panels on their properties,” said Forbes.
The City Council hopes to hold a public hearing on the ordinance on Dec. 15.
Next week: Going green in an urban community.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.