Solar Panel Limits on Town Meeting Agenda

January's Special Town Meeting will vote on an amended zoning bylaw placing limitations on solar power generation systems in town but only after the Planning Board used more precise language in the proposed changes to placate residents fears that any restrictions would be detrimental to bringing solar power to Belmont.

But an official with the state's energy department wrote that an important segment of the measure requiring a special permit created "an unwarranted barrier" to those seeking to place solar panels on their homes and property.

After researching and discussing the proposed bylaw for several months and holding, the Planning Board met on Tuesday, Nov. 29 in Town Hall to discuss those community contributions and accommodate residents’ apprehensions in the revised version of the Solar Power Generation By-law Zoning Amendment.

“This is an example of how input from a public hearing should work,” said Planning Board Chairman Sami Baghdady in reference to issues residents raised on Nov. 15 such as how flat roofs should be handled.

Baghdady and the board members mentioned several times during their discussion that the proposed bylaw on solar power generation is a work in progress as the industry is relatively new and its emerging technology will likely necessitate changes to any restrictions Town Meeting may approve by adopting the amended bylaw in January.

“If we can find a better bylaw (eventually) drafted by the state, I would consider revisiting this,” Baghdady said.

What’s been revised in the proposed bylaw amendment

The Planning Board will have to take a final vote on the draft at their meeting on Dec. 6 but, because the Board of Selectmen will be closing the warrant for the Special Town Meeting on Dec. 5, Planning Department Coordinator Jeffrey Wheeler – and management liaison to the board – plans to send the selectmen the final draft later this week.

Once the Planning Board has taken its vote, the proposed amended bylaw will be posted on the Community Development Department’s website where exists an entire section devoted to the history of work done on it and questions/comments from members of the public.

Currently, the proposed bylaw amendment states that solar energy structures for all flat roofs – both residential and commercial – will need to undergo a design and site plan review by the Planning Board and cannot exceed the permissible height above seven feet of the top surface.

Should a business or residence need a structure that will exceed seven feet, the Planning Board will review the circumstances and – if they turn out to be the only way the building can receive solar power energy – will grant a special permit.

There are very few residences in Belmont with flat roofs, pointed out Planning Board member Joe DeStefano, explaining the reason for a design and site plan review will mainly pertain to garages that will contain the structures.

Roof-mounted structures on sloped roofs will be allowed by right as long as they do not project more than 12 inches above the surface.

Free-standing structures will be allowed by right but subject to a design and site plan review and cannot be more than six feet (the height now allowed for fences) above the adjacent grade. If that is not possible, the applicant can come before the board to seek a special permit.

“We’re building in flexibility if people need relief (from the restrictions),” said Baghdady.

In addition, members of the deleted a section that states the owner of a solar energy system shall remove it if it has been abandoned or not used for more than 12 months.

Their concerns – that residents would not have the right to complain about unsightly structures that lack maintenance – are covered under the section of the proposed bylaw that states the owner of the solar energy system will remove it if the Building Commissioner determines it has become a nuisance or a hazard.

Resistance remains

It is unlikely, however, that the presentation of the Solar Power Generation By-law Zoning Amendment at Special Town Meeting will escape scrutiny and criticism.

Belmont Energy Co-chairman Roger Colton sent the board an email on Nov. 14 for consideration at the Nov. 15 public hearing that questioned the legality of imposing any restrictions to either rooftop or standing solar energy structures and asked that the proposed zoning bylaw be delayed from coming before Special Town Meeting for further review and substantial redrafting.

Last night, because the public hearing had been closed two weeks ago, residents could not comment but Colton, who attended last night's meeting, sent an email to the board that detailed a response he received from Meg Lusardi, director of the Green Communications division for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources.

Responding to Colton’s inquires about the earlier draft bylaw – before the board revised it last night – Luaardi said that “Belmont’s bylaw as drafted raises concerns as it would present an unwarranted barrier to the siting of solar systems,” she wrote.

“Specifically, special permits would be required for virtually all solar energy systems, a discretionary process that because of time, complication and uncertainty involved would dissuade property owners from seeking to site solar facilities,” Luaardi noted.

Of primary concern, Lusardi wrote, is the sections of the bylaw would require a discretionary special permit for roof-mounted solar energy systems that project more than 12 inches above the surface of the roof to which they are attached and for free-standing systems that are more than six feet above the adjacent grade.

Paul Santos also attended the meeting and brought written comments.

However, he provided Belmont Patch with a copy that states it is not clear to him that the zoning bylaws need to be amended to address these systems in detail.

“In fact, most of the draft fails to abide by both the spirit and letter of MGL 40A, Section 3 (the state regulations concerning solar panels),” Santos wrote.

“If there is a potential nuisance arising from the use of these systems, then the problem is best addressed by amending the nuisance elements of existing bylaws.”

To add to the undesirability of the proposed bylaw amendment, Santos said the draft reviewed at the Nov. 15 public hearing is “quite specific on many items but does not distinguish between photovoltaic and solar thermal systems which are quite different in design, deployment and use.

“The draft fails to take into consideration the actual practice behind these systems,” he wrote.